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^  B,ural  g>ur^ep  of 

Culare  County 

California 


MADE  BY 

COUNTRY  CHURCH  WORK 

OF  THE 

BOARD  of  HOME  MISSIONS  of  the  PRESBYTERIAN 

CHURCH  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

WARREN  H.  WILSON.  Saperintendent 

HERMANN    N.    MORSE.    Investigator 

156  Fifth  Avenue.  New  York  City 

1915 


^  iltiral  g)url)e^  of 

Culare  County 

Caltfonita 


MADE   BY 

COUNTRY  CHURCH  WORK 

OF  THE 

BOARD  of  HOME   MISSIONS  of  tfie   PRESBYTERIAN 

CHURCH  in  </ie  U.  S.  A. 

WARREN   H.  WILSON,  Supetlt.  endent 

HERMANN     N.     MORSE,    Investigator 

156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 

1915 


OUTLINE   MAP   OF  CALIFORNIA   SHOWING   POSITION   OF 
TULARE   COUNT V 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Part  I. — Introducing  Tulare  Count}-.  page 

Chapter  1.     Foreword    5 

Chapter  2.     General    Description    of    tlie    County 6 

Chapter  3.     Resources   9 

Part   II. — Tlie  Business  of   Farming: 

Chapter  1.     General   Characteristics  of  the   .\gricuhural    Imhistrs 12 

Chapter  2.     Water   Supply  and   Irrigation 14 

Chapter  3.     General  Character  of  the  Recent   Development 16 

Chapter  4.     Farming   According    to    Type 19 

Chapter  5.     Marketing    and    Cooperation 26 

Chapter  6.     Some   Problems   of   Farm   Administration 3Z 

Part  III. — Population  and  Social  Life  : 

Chapter  1.     Number,  Distribution  and  Composition  of   Population 35 

Chapter  2.     Some   Community   Characteristics 37 

Chapter  3.     Organization,    Recreation   and    Morality 42 

Chapter  4.     Some    County    Institutions 45 

Part  IV. — Education  : 

Chapter  1.     Organization  and  Finance  of   Pul)lic  Schools 48 

Chapter  2.     Buildings,  Equipment  and  Grounds 53 

Chapter  3.     The   Teaching   Force 64 

Chapter  4.     The    Pupils    70 

Chapter  5.     Miscellaneous   71 

Chapter  6.     High   Schools    73 

Part  V. — Religious  Conditions  : 

Chapter  1.     Number,  Kind  and   Distribution  of   Religious  Organizations 

and   Their   Material    Equii)ment 77 

Chapter  2.     Membership   and   Growth 83 

Chapter  3.     The    Church    Budget 88 

Chapter  4.     Organizations    in   the    Churches 92 

Chapter  5.     The   Churcli    Program 98 

Chapter  6.     The   Minister       101 

Chapter  7.     General    Conclusions    103 

Part  VI. — Recommendations    108 


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PART  I. 
INTRODUCING  TULARE  COUNTY 

Chapter   1 — Foreword. 

The  social  and  rehgious  problems  of  relatively  new  and  rapidly 
growing  communities  must  differ  in  many  important  particulars  from 
those  of  sections  wdiere  society  is  mature  and  social  institutions  long 
established.  Social  surveys  made  in  the  East  and  Middle  West  throw 
comparatively  little  light  upon  conditions  obtaining  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  For  this  reason  the  survey  which  is  here  reported  was  under- 
taken. The  Home  Missions  Committee  of  the  Synod  of  California 
asked  that  a  survey  be  made  within  the  borders  of  the  Synod  and  the 
Presbytery  of  San  Joaquin  requested  that  one  of  the  counties  of  its 
territory  be  selected  for  study.  Preliminary  arrangements  to  this  ef- 
fect having  been  made,  the  Home  Missions  Committee  of  the  Pres- 
bytery suggested  Tulare  County  because  of  the  representative  char- 
acter of  its  industries,  its  predominatingly  agricultural  interests  and  its 
general  accessibility.  The  field  work  of  the  survey  was  begun  in  the 
fall  of  1914  by  O.  F.  Wisner  and  was  completed  by  H.  N.  Morse;  this 
report  was  prepared  for  publication  by  the  latter  and  is  issued  by  the 
Country  Church  Work  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions 
for  the  use  of  all  who  are  concerned  with  the  problems  which  it  dis- 
cusses. 

In  the  arrangement  of  the  report  the  discussion  of  the  general 
economic  and  social  conditions  is  somewhat  less  detailed  than  the 
wealth  of  material  secured  might  seem  to  warrant,  and  for  two  reasons, 
'i'hough  Tulare  County  has  a  fairly  long  history  (for  the  West)  most 
of  its  development  is  a  recent  matter  and  it  is  still  far  from  its  possible 
maximum;  the  rapidity  of  change  in  population  and  in  economic  con- 
ditions would  certainly  within  a  few  years  render  obsolete  any  detailed 
statistical  analyses.  Further,  a  considerable  amount  of  information 
about  the  resources  of  the  county  is  already  available  in  printed  form, 
chiefly  as  publications  of  its  various  Boards  of  Trade.  A  list  of  these 
organizations  is  given  later  in  the  report  and  their  bulletins  may  be 
obtained  free  of  charge  by  anyone  interested.  Such  publications  must, 
of  course,  be  used  with  a  bit  of  caution.  They  are  issued  to  advertise 
the  advantages  of  the  communities  which  ihcy  describe  with  a  view  to 
attracting  settlers.     Idicir  selection  of  material,  dictated  l)y  a  more  or 


less  pardonable  pride  with  some  sense  of  advantages  to  be  derived  (not 
wholly  unselfish),  is  to  say  the  least  quite  optimistic;  especially  so  in 
view  of  the  necessity  of  presenting  a  picture  which  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  the  efforts  of  all  other  advertising  counties.  They  are,  there- 
fore, somewhat  highly  colored  and  give  an  impression  of  almost  mo- 
notonous prosj)erity.  Barring  this  accentuation  of  the  high  lights,  they 
are  reasonably  accurate,  and  it  is  only  fair  to  add  that  the  more  respon- 
sible organizations  are  doing  a  good  deal  to  discourage  misrepresenta- 
lion  Ijy  real-estate  speculators,  of  wdiom  California  has  a  few.  The 
l)ulletins  of  the  County  Board  of  Trade  are  to  be  preferred  to  those  of 
local  organizations  wdiich  are  under  the  double  necessity  of  justifying 
!  oth  county  and  district.  Its  most  recent  pul)lication.s,  a  series  of  seven 
monographs  on  the  seven  main  branches  of  agriculture  in  the  county, 
are  very  eff'ective  and  contain  much  valuable  material. 

This  report  has  no  direct  interest  in  the  economic  life  of  the  county 
save  as  it  conditions  and  gives  form  to  the  social,  educational  and  re- 
ligious problems,  which  are  our  primary  concern. 

Chapter  2 — General  Description  of  the  County. 

Tulare  County  lies  near  the  geographical  center  of  California  in  the 
great  San  Joacjuin  \'alley.  It  has  a  land  area  of  4,856  square  miles,  or 
3,107,840  acres,  which  makes  it  the  seventh  largest  county  in  Cali- 
fornia, about  equal  to  the  combined  areas  of  nine  average  Eastern  or 
Middle  Western  counties.  Approximately  one-third  of  the  total  acre- 
age is  included  in  the  farms  of  the  county,  although  nearly  one-half 
could  be  used  for  some  form  of  agriculture  as  far  as  topography  is  con- 
cerned. The  remaining  area  is  mountainous,  being  included  in  the  high- 
est portion  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Range.  It  has  many  peaks  reaching 
an  elevation  of  more  than  8,000  feet,  the  loftiest  being  Mt.  Whitney, 
14,887  feet  high.  At  the  base  of  the  mountain  range  lies  a  range  of 
foothills  intersected  by  many  coves  and  valleys.  The  western  side  of 
the  county  is  on  the  valley  floor,  an  almost  dead  level,  with  an  average 
elevation  of  about  350  feet. 

Within  the  borders  of  the  county  are  the  Sequoia  National  Park,  half 
of  the  General  Crant  National  Park,  the  Sierra  Forest  Reserve,  the 
Tule  River  Indian  Reservation  and  a  considerable  amount  of  other 
government  land  open  for  homestead  entry.  These  tracts  lie  in  the 
eastern  half  of  the  county  and  have  a  combined  area  (the  Forest  Re- 
serve excluded)  of  nearly  300,000  acres.  The  two  National  Parks  are 
famous  for  their  groves  of  big  trees  (Sequoia  Gigantea),  which  aggre- 
gate over  9,000  acres  and  contain  some  12,000  trees  exceeding  10  feet 
in  diameter.    The  General  Sherman  in  the  Sequoia  Park  is  said  to  be 

6 


the  largest  living  tree  in  the  world  having  a  height  of  280  feet  and  a 
maximum  diameter  of  over  36  feet.  These  parks  and  the  many  other 
wonders  of  these  mountains  attract  annually  many  campers  and  tour- 
ists. During  the  summer  season  when  the  mountain  roads  are  open  it 
is  possible  to  penetrate  the  mountains  at  many  points  to  a  height  of 
7,000  feet  or  more  by  wagon  or  automobile,  an  inestimable  Ijoon  during 
the  hot  season. 

Climates  are  a  matter  of  taste.  Californians.are  proverbially  weather 
boosters.  The  climate  of  the  San  Joaquin  A'alley  is  well  adapted  to  the 
types  of  agriculture  practised  there,  and  the  inhabitants  praise  it  very 
highly  to  sojourners  who  are  not  usually  so  enthusiastic.  The  tem- 
perature ranges  upward  from  a  minimum  of  20  degrees  or  thereabouts 
during  the  coldest  months.  A  destructive  freeze  is  rather  rare  but  not 
unknown,  though  one  hears  tales  of  a  "frostless  belt."  The  average 
annual  rain-fall  of  10-12  inches  is  chiefly  confined  to  four  months, 
December  to  March,  but  is  spread  over  a  good  many  days  with  con- 
siderable fog  on  the  valley  floor,  with  the  result  that  what  cold  there 
is  is  of  a  penetrating  sort.  The  summer  heat  is  extreme,  but  there  is 
little  humidity  and  no  danger  of  heat  prostration.  Of  course  the  long 
continued  dry  spell  produces  an  uncomfortable  quantity  of  dust.  The 
most  characteristic  feature  of  the  climate  is  the  frequency  amounting 
to  regularity  with  which  you  are  told  that  anything  unpleasant  about  it 
is  "very  unusual." 

There  are  20  towns  in  the  county  of  from  100  to  6,000  population. 
Visalia  is  the  county-seat  and  largest  town ;  the  other  important  towns 
are  Porterville,  Tulare,  Dinuba,  Lindsay  and  Exeter.  The  facilities 
for  transportation  and  travel  are  ample.  The  main  lines  and  various 
branches  of  the  Santa  Fe  and  Southern  Pacific  Railroads  traverse  the 
county,  and  with  one  electric  road  and  numerous  auto-stage  routes, 
make  every  part  of  it  easily  accessible  for  both  local  and  through 
traffic.  The  public  road  system  is  more  extensive  than  excellent.  The 
State  highway  from  Los  Angeles  to  San  Francisco,  part  of  the  great 
system  of  through  highways  now  being  constructed,  crosses  the  western 
side  of  the  county.  The  exact  route  was  but  recently  decided  upon 
after  a  long  conflict,  and  this  section  is  now  under  construction.  With 
the  exception  of  this  stretch  of  road  and  the  roads  within  the  Federal 
domain,  all  road  wtn'k  in  the  county  outside  of  the  limits  of  incorpor- 
ated towns  is  at  county  expense  and  is  directed  by  the  County  Board 
of  Supervisors,  five  in  number,  each  supervisor  being  responsil)le  for 
one  district. 

There  are  in  all  nearly  .3,500  miles  of  public  road  in  the  county, 
Tulare  being  the  second  counts'   in   the   .State  in  total  road  mileage. 

7 


There  are  no  really  "permanent"  roads,  though  a  considerahle  amount 
has  been  expended  on  permanent  improvements  in  the  way  of  grading, 
ditches,  culverts  and  bridges.  Most  of  the  main  roads  are  made  of 
crude  oil  and  sand.  This  makes  a  very  serviceable  surface,  but  must 
be  renewed  frequently  if  kept  in  good  condition  under  heavy  traffic,  so 
that,  though  the  initial  cost  is  not  great,  the  maintenance  charge  is 
heavy.  The  un-oiled  roads,  which  form  by  far  the  largest  percentage 
of  the  total  mileage,  are  almost  uniformly  bad  during  the  rainy  season. 
This  is  particularly  true  on  red  or  black  adobe  soil  or  "dry  bog"  where 
some  of  the  roads  become  almost  impassable.  In  dry  weather,  the  more 
important  of  the  un-oiled  roads  are  kept  in  very  excellent  condition. 
The  less  important  are  apt  to  be  as  rough  and  dusty  in  summer  as  they 
are  muddy  in  winter.  The  various  districts  are  well  outfitted  with  road 
machinery,  and  the  work  is,  in  the  main,  well  done  within  the  limit  of 
the  expenditure  possible.  Last  year  the  total  sum  appropriated  for 
up-keep  and  oil  was  nearly  $350,000.  This  amount  is  hardly  adequate 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  roads  are  subjected  to  very  heavy 
traffic  twelve  months  of  the  year,  and  that  there  is  no  blanket  of  snow 
to  protect  the  road  surface  during  the  winter  months  when  the  traffic 
cuts  in  most  deeply.  In  the  citrus  districts  the  heaviest  hauling  of  the 
year  is  done  at  the  season  when  the  road  surface  is  least  able  to 
bear  it. 

Last  fall  a  proposition  was  put  to  the  people  to  bond  the  County  for 
approximately  $1,500,000  (the  County  not  now  having  any  bonded 
indebtedness)  for  the  construction  of  a  system  of  permanent  high- 
ways. The  plan  as  projected  was  faulty  in  many  respects  and  failed 
of  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote.  It  is  probable  that  a  second  bonding 
proposition  calling  for  nearly  $2,000,000  will  be  put  to  vote  this  year. 
If  the  details  are  worked  out  more  carefully,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  vote  will  be  favorable,  which  ^\■()ul(l  be  greatly  to  the  per- 
manent advantage  of  the  County  as  a  whole.  Failing  in  this,  there 
is  one  other  way  to  obtain  j^ermanent  roads,  viz.,  by  the  formation  of 
local  districts  under  a  state  law  whereby  the  property  in  the  district 
is  assessed  for  the  cost  of  construction,  about  60%  of  the  total  cost, 
and  the  County  furnishes  the  material.  The  formation  of  such  a  dis- 
trict is  at  present  being  agitated  to  build  a  highway  from  Porterville 
to  Lindsay. 

Chapter  3 — Resources. 

The  chief  non-agricultural  resources  of  the  County  are  lumber, 
building  stone,  magnesite,  minerals — chiefly  gold  and  cement.  The 
mountains  at  elevations  of  from  4,000  to  9,000  feet  are  heavily  wooded 

9 


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with  valuable  timber.  The  timber  line  is  not  reached  short  of  an  alti- 
tude of  about  12,000  feet,  but  the  bulk  of  the  timber  is  in  the  lower 
altitudes.  At  the  higher  altitudes  are  found  California  red  fir,  lodge 
l)ole  pine  and  various  subalpine  species.  In  the  main  timber  belt  are 
found  chiefly  three  kinds  of  timber,  the  sequoia  or  yellow  pine,  which 
is  the  j)rincii)al  source  of  supi)lv,  the  sugar  pine,  mostly  at  a  somewhat 
higher  altitude,  which  is  more  prized  but  considerably  less  abundant, 
and  spruce  and  tamarac.  Below  this  timber  belt  on  the  higher  foot- 
hills is  an  open  forest  of  short,  branchy  species,  mountain  oak  and 
bull  i^ine  predominating.  This  is  not  valuable  for  lumber,  but  many 
thousand  cords  of  firewood  are  cut  every  year  for  shipment  to  various 
valley  points.  ( )n  the  floor  of  the  valley  in  some  sections  a  consider- 
able amount  of  eucalyptus  is  grown. 

Of  building  stones,  granite  is  the  most  important,  and  hills  near 
Porterville  are  the  source  of  supply.  Some  of  the  best  quality  granite 
found  in  the  west  is  c[uarried  here.  Near  Porterville  is  also  what  is 
probaldy  the  most  extensive  and  valuable  deposit  of  commercial  mag- 
nesite  in  the  United  States,  a  product  of  unusual  value  just  now  that 
importations  from  Europe  are  shut  oft".  Near  Springville  are  exten- 
sive lime  deposits.  1,000  acres  of  lime  rock  lands  were  recently  pur- 
chased by  the  Riverside  and  Portland  Cement  Co.,  and  a  cement  plant 
is  to  be  established  there.  A  great  deal  of  gold  has  in  times  past  been 
taken  out  of  the  mountains  within  the  County  borders.  White  River 
was   once   a   very    famous — or   perhaps   one   should   say,   notorious — 

10 


mining  town.     Just  recently  work  has  been  renewed  in  a  number  of 
long  abandoned  mines. 

These  various  resources  have  an  enormous  aggregate  value.  As  far 
as  the  bulk  of  the  County's  population  is  concerned  they  are,  however, 
of  relatively  little  importance  compared  with  the  agricultural  resources, 
which  are  the  great  determining  factors  in  the  County's  life.  This  is 
as  true  of  the  towns  as  of  the  open  country,  for  here  there  is  hardly 
a  trace  of  that  divorce  of  the  country  and  the  larger  towns  which  is 
a  feature  of  so  many  eastern  sections.  With  the  exceptions  just  men- 
tioned there  is  no  manufacturing  or  other  business  in  the  County  of 
any  importance  which  is  not  more  or  less  connected  with  the  agri- 
cultural industry.  The  majority  of  the  people  are  dependent  for  their 
living,  directly  or  indirectly,  upon  the  success  of  that  industry.  It  fol- 
lows naturally  that  agriculture  is  the  biggest  factor  in  the  formation 
of  public  opinion  and  in  the  determination  of  public  policies. 


A  HERD  OF  FINE  JERSEYS 


11 


PART  II. 
THE  BUSINESS  OF  FARMING 

Chapter  1 — General  Characteristics  of  the  Agricultural  Industry. 

There  is  great  diversity  in  the  County's  agricultural  resources  and 
quite  a  wide  dilierence  between  various  sections  of  the  County  in  their 
prevailing  types  of  farming.  In  this  regard  there  has  been  rapid  evolu- 
tion during  the  last  few  decades.  People  still  living  here  can  remember 
the  day — not  so  long  distant — when  the  whole  valley  w^as  one  vast 
grazing  ground  for  cattle.  Later  grain  raising  was  introduced  and 
practised  on  an  enormous  scale,  the  cattle  being  gradually  driven  back 
toward  the  poorer  and  rougher  land  of  the  foothills.  Within  20  years 
there  has  been  a  great  decrease  in  the  grain  average  except  in  certain 
sections. 

At  present  time  the  County  may  be  roughly  divided  into  five  divisions 
according  to  type  of  farming.  The  higher  slopes  and  hill  pastures  of 
the  foothills  are  largely  given  over  to  beef  cattle.  Following  the  curv- 
ing line  of  the  foothills  and  extending  back  into  the  various  coves  is 
a  belt  some  10  or  12  miles  wide  wdiich  is  best  adapted  to  the  culture  of 
citrus  fruits  and  olives.  This  belt  extending  from  Richgrove  on  the 
southern  border  to  Orange  Cove  in  the  north,  includes  Ducor,  Terra 
Bella,  Porterville,  Strathmore,  Lindsay,  Exeter,  Lemon  Cove,  Wood- 
lake,  X^enire  Hill  and  Orosi.  Practically  all  the  development  here  has 
come  within  ten  years.  The  northwest  corner  of  the  County  is  given 
over  to  an  extensive  deciduous  fruit  and  raisin  industry,  with  Dinuba 
as  the  center,  though  there  is  a  considerable  acreage  about  Viisalia,  as 
far  south  as  Tulare  and  as  far  east  as  the  citrus  belt.  Tulare  is  the 
center  of  an  extensive  and  rapidly  growing  dairy  and  alfalfa  industry. 
This  industry  disputes  supremacy  wnth  the  deciduous  fruits  as  far 
north  as  the  Yisalia  district  and  east  to  the  citrus  belt.  In  the  territory 
west  and  south  of  Tulare  it  is  the  chief  source  of  income ;  so  also  in 
the  Woodville  and  Poplar  districts.  The  largest  portion  of  the  present 
acreage  of  small  grains  is  in  the  southern  part  of  the  County  in  the 
territory  lying  within  15  or  20  miles  of  the  Kern  County  line. 

The  soil  in  the  citrus  belt  is  mostly  a  red  adobe,  strongly  impreg- 
nated with  iron,  with  considerable  stretches  of  black  adobe  and  so- 
called  "dry  bog."  These  soils  dififer  somewhat  in  formation  and  pen- 
etrability, but,  on  the  whole,  are  about  equally  prized  for  citrus  cul- 

12 


r  .\ 


-^ 


13 


ture.  The  rest  of  the  valley  has  mostly  a  fairly  rich  alluvial  soil  which 
grows  excellent  alfalfa  and  fruit  with  little  commercial  fertilizer.  In 
many  sections  the  soil  is  slightly  and  in  some  sections  strongly  alkaline. 
This  alkrdine  soil  has  its  uses,  however,  ])articularly  if  water  is  plenti- 
ful, as  is  heing  learned  with  profit,  though  there  are  still  some  extensive 
arid  wastes  in  the  county. 

In  general  it  may  he  said  that  specialized  rather  than  diversified 
farming  is  characteristic  of  the  county.  Many  farmers  comhine  two 
or  more  of  the  types  of  farming  mentioned  ahove,  or  supplement  them 
with  sugar  heets,  corn,  potatoes,  poultry,  heets,  etc.  Others  who  have 
young  orchards  grow  small  fruits,  melons,  vegetables  and  similar  prod- 
ucts between  the  trees.  However,  in  the  average  instance  it  is  upon  one 
type  of  farming  that  the  chief  reliance  is  placed  for  a  permanent  labor 
income. 

Chapter  2 — Water  Supply  and   Irrigation. 

It  is  to  the  mountains  that  the  valley  must  look  for  its  continued 
prosperity.  Water  is  of  prime  importance  here,  since  the  annual  rain- 
fall of  10  or  12  inches  is  sufficient  only  for  the  foothill  grazing  lands 
and  the  grain  fields  and  not  always  for  them.  Everything  else  must  be 
irrigated. 

For  a  distance  of  7i  miles  north  and  south  the  crest  of  the  Sierras 
lies  within  the  county,  including  many  of  the  highest  peaks  of  that 
range.  This  is  the  great  watershed,  the  source  of  a  practically  inex- 
haustible supply  of  surface  and  sub-surface  water,  sufficient  to  irri- 
gate the  entire  tillable  area  of  the  county. 

Irrigation  is  either  by  gravity  ditches  or  by  pumps.  The  gravity 
ditches  divert  the  water  from  the  streams  and  creeks,  the  pumps  draw 
upon  the  underground  water.  The  Kings,  Kaweah  and  Tule  Rivers, 
with  their  tributaries,  are  the  chief  source  of  supply  for  the  gravity 
systems.  There  are  several  large  irrigation  districts — notably  the  Alta 
District  and  the  Tulare  District — and  many  co-operative  ditch  systems. 
In  all  several  hundred  thousand  acres  are  irrigated  wholly  or  in  part 
by  gravity  ditches.  Places  are  now  being  formulated  for  several  new 
irrigation  districts  which  will  serve  a  very  considerable  area.  A  state 
law  provides  the  methods  of  procedure  for  the  organization  of  such 
districts.  The  cost  of  irrigation  in  the  established  irrigation  districts 
averages  about  $1.50  per  year  for  each  acre  irrigated.  It  is  often  neces- 
sary to  supplement  this  in  summer  by  pump  irrigation.  The  cost  in 
a  new  district  may  be  illustrated  by  the  figures  presented  by  the  con- 
sulting engineer  for  the  proposed  Terra  Bella  Irrigation  District.  The 
plan  here  is  to  draw  water  from  Deer  Creek,  impounding  the  flow  in 

14 


FUMIGATING  ()RAi\(;E  OKGilARU  FOR   SCALE 


a  storage  reservoir,  and  contemplates  a  gross  area  of  12,500  acres  of 
land  with  32%  reserve  storage,  total  cost  to  be  approximately  $824,- 
800.  Once  the  district  is  established,  the  water  belongs  to  the  land. 
The  estimated  maximum  charge  is  $7.28  per  acre  in  the  eighth  year, 
gradually  decreasing  to  $3.31  per  acre  in  the  fortieth  year,  and  there- 
after not  to  exceed  $1.50  per  acre,  or  the  actual  cost  of  maintenance 
and  operation. 

Pump  irrigation  is  a  more  recent  development  and  is  made  possible 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  strata  of  underground  water  are  usually 
found  near  to  the  earth's  surface  and  consecjuently  the  water-lift  is  not 
great.  The  wells  range  in  depth  from  70  to  300  feet  or  more,  but  the 
water-lift  seldom  exceeds  80  feet  and  is  often  only  10  to  15  feet. 
Pump  irrigation  is  more  expensive  than  gravity  irrigation,  but  is  more 
reliable.  So  many  factors  enter  into  the  cost  that  any  figure  given  as  a 
yearly  average  cost  per  acre  for  the  county  would  be  of  little  value.  The 
cost,  however,  ranges  from  $1.50  to  $4.00  per  acre  for  each  irrigation. 

Where  electric  power  is  available  for  pumping — as  in  most  of  the 
county — it  is  preferred.  Elsewhere,  gasoline  engines  are  used.  There 
are  three  electric  power  companies  operating  in  the  county,  and  the 
service  is  said  to  be  both  efficient  and  reasonable  in  cost. 

The  number  of  irrigations  necessary  per  year  de])ends  upon  the 
nature  of  the  soil  and  the  kind  of  product  grown.  Mature  vineyards 
and  deciduous  orchards  usually  recjuire  but  one  irrigation  a  season. 
Alfalfa  does  best  with  two  or  three  floodings.  Citrus  orchards  require 
relatively  frequent  irrigations. 

15 


The  fact  that  it  is  so  vital  in  this  county  to  obtain  a  sufficient  sup- 
ply of  water  has  been  the  cause  of  more  or  less  litigation  and  hard 
feelings,  sometimes  between  districts  drawing  their  supply  from  the 
same  source  and  sometimes  within  districts  touching  the  policy  of  ad- 
ministering the  water.  The  whole  matter  is,  however,  in  a  fair  way  to 
be  adequately  covered  by  legislation  and  court  decisions. 

Chapter  3— General  Character  of  the  Recent  Development. 

Tulare  County  has  made  a  most  remarkable  growth  during  the  last 
few  decades,  but  particularly  during  the  last  15  years.  Many  factors 
have  contributed  to  this:  the  steady  development  of  the  markets  for 
its  products  and  the  improvement  of  transportation  facilities,  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  fact  that  the  belt  of  land  along  the  foothills  is  ideal 
for  citrus  and  olive  culture,  the  discovery  of  the  feasibility  of  pump 
irrigation  on  a  large  scale  and  the  development  of  economical  power 
for  pumping,  and  the  widespread  and  incessant  advertising  of  the 
county's  resources  and  advantages  are  a  few  of  the  outstanding 
reasons. 

In  1900  it  was  the  twelfth  county  in  the  state  in  the  total  valuation 
of  all  farm  property,  with  a  valuation  of  $20,287,801.00.     In  1910.  it 


A  FARMER'S  HOME   IX    11  1. AKK  i  <  )UNTY 

was  the  third  county  in  the  state,  with  a  valuation  of  $76,539,642.  Its 
increase  during  this  10  year  period  was  277.3%,  by  far  the  largest  per 
cent  of  increase  shown  by  any  California  county.  While  no  figures 
are  available  for  this  current  year,  it  is  probable  that  the  present  valu- 
ation is  well  over  $100,000,000.00,  and  the  end  is  by  no  means  yet 

16 


reached.  The  two  greatest  factors  in  this  increase  were  and  still  are 
the  development  of  the  citrus  industry  and  the  breaking  up  into  small 
tracts  of  many  large  holdings. 

In  1910,  of  the  total  valuation  of  farm  property,  84.2%  represented 
land  only,  5.5%  buildings,  2.4%  implements  and  machinery,  and  7.9% 
stock,  poultry,  etc.  These  percentages  are  about  an  average  for  the 
state,  Init  the  per  cent  of  value  in  land  is  very  high  and  the  per  cent  in 
buildings  and  equipment  very  low  as  compared,  with  the  county  as  a 
whole.  This  is  explained  l)y  the  fact  that  much  of  the  cheaper  land  is 
held  in  large  tracts  with  practically  no  buildings  ;  many  of  the  more 
recently  acquired  small  farms  are  so  heavily  mortgaged  that  only  the 
poorest  buildings  have  been  erected,  while  the  developed  orchards  have 
a  large  per  acre  valuation  and  require  practically  no  buildings  but  a 
dwelling  and  a  pump  house.  The  average  value  of  all  property  for 
the  4,021  farms  was,  in  1910,  v$19,035.CO.  The  number  of  farms  nearly 
doubled  in  10  years. 

The  per  acre  value  of  land  has  increased  even  more  rapidly  than 
the  total  valuation  of  farm  property,  showing  that  the  actual  imi)rove- 
ment  of  land  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  speculation  in  kind  values. 
In  1900  the  average  value  of  land  i)er  acre  was  but  $1.^.00.  In  1910 
it  was  $61.67.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  figure  means  very  little,  the 
variations  in  value,  or  at  least  in  asking  price,  are  so  great.  There 
are  some  grazing  lands  which  would  doubtless  Ijring  not  more  than 
$5.00  an  acre,  and  some  stretches  of  land  without  water  suitable  for 
wheat,  and  possibly,  if  water  were  developed,  for  alfalfa,  which  could 
be  jnirchased  for  from  $40.00  to  $75.00  an  acre.  Alfalfa  and  fruit 
lands  under  irrigation  are  held  at  from  $100  to  $350  or  more  per  acre, 
the  citrus  lands  bringing  the  highest  price.  Bearing  orchards  bring  as 
high  as  $2,000  an  acre.  Then,  of  course,  there  is  an  abundance  of 
lands,  technically  called  farm  lands,  which  at  present  have  little  or  no 
marl<et  value. 

The  County  has  been  persistently  exploited  by  real-estate  specu- 
lators. Large  tracts  are  held  by  non-resident  investors  purely  for 
speculative  ])urposes.  Prices  have  in  many  cases  been  inflated  con- 
siderably above  actual  income-i)roflucing  value.  This  has  affected  in 
many  ways  the  stability  of  investments  in  farm  property,  and  has  had 
many  other  unfortunate  results.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  rural  section 
elsewhere  supports  as  many  real-estate  agents  to  the  square  mile  as 
this  San  Joacjuin  valley.  There  are  literally  dozens  of  them  operating 
in  Tulare  County  or  with  Tulare  County  lands.  A  great  deal  of  i)rop- 
erty  changes  hands  every  year,  many  tracts  being  repeatedly  sold.  The 
smaller  investors  usually  buy  on  time,  and  as  a  result  an  unusually 

17 


high  percentage  of  the  farms,  especially  the  small  farms,  have  mort- 
gage indebtedness.  This  is  not  necessarily  bad,  but  may  become  so. 
The  whole  situation  is  forced,  and  the  eiTccts  upon  community  stability 
are  unfortunate.  At  least  one  Clianibor  of  Commerce  in  the  County 
has  rccdgnizcd  this  and  has  turned  its  attention  to  efiforts  to  discour- 
age the  inllation  of  land  values  and  the  sale  of  acreage  to  speculators. 
Much  of  the  advertising  of  the  County's  resources,  particularly  the 
irresponsible  advertising  of  individual  land  brokers,  has  failed  to  suf- 
ficiently emphasize  the  amount  of  capital  needed  to  successfully  de- 
velop farms  in  this  locality,  particularly  if  there  are  to  be  fruit  farms 
where  the  only  income  for  the  first  few  years  will  be  from  wheat, 
small  fruits  and  vegetables  that  can  be  raised  between  the  growing 


LEMONS 

18 


trees — a  more  or  less  precarious  hope.  It  is  partly  in  consequence  of 
this  that  one  so  often  sees  the  sign,  "This  ranch  for  sale,"  which  may 
veritably  be  called  the  California  trade  mark. 

As  has  already  been  intimated  the  present  trend  is  strongly  toward 
the  small  farm.  By  this  is  meant  the  20-40  acre  tract.  In  1910,  45% 
of  all  the  farms  contained  less  than  50  acres  each,  while  61%  contained 
less  than  100  acres  each.  There  were  1,247  farms  of  from  20-49  acres, 
31%  of  the  whole  number  of  farms.  If  figures  were  available  for  the 
current  year  they  would  show  this  even  more  strongly.  It  undoubt- 
edly is  possible  to  make  a  good  living  off  of  a  20-40  acre  tract,  par- 
ticularly if  fruit  is  grown.  Most  of  the  large  holdings  are  either  cattle 
ranches  or  grain  farms.  The  largest  acreage  in  one  holding  is  now 
36,000  acres. 

Chapter  4 — Farming  According  to  Type. 

Tulare  County  is  potentially  the  most  important  county  in  the  United 
States  for  the  production  of  citrus  fruits.  The  industry  here  is  hardly 
25  years  old,  and  most  of  the  development  has  taken  place  within  10 
years ;  yet  Tulare  County  is  to-day  the  banner  county  in  the  matter  of 
citrus  fruit  acreage,  and  in  another  10  years  should  easily  distance  its 
nearest  competitor  both  in  total  acreage  and  annual  output.  The  acre- 
age at  present  for  all  citrus  fruits  is  approximately  43,450,  divided  as 
follows:  oranges,  42,000  acres;  lemons,  1,200  acres;  grape  fruit,  250 
acres.  Less  than  a  third  of  this  acreage  has  come  into  bearing,  the 
non-bearing  acreage  being  of  oranges,  30,450;  lemons,  750;  grape  fruit, 
150.  The  lemon  acreage  will  be  more  than  doubled  this  year,  while  the 
orange  acreage  is  sure  of  a  substantial  annual  increase  for  some  time 
to  come.  Most  of  the  oranges  are  Washington  navels  with  some  Val- 
encias ;  the  favorite  variety  of  lemons  is  the  Eureka,  and  of  grape  fruit, 
Marshe's  Seedless. 

The  development  extends  the  entire  length  of  the  County,  north  and 
south,  along  the  line  of  the  foothills,  but  centers  around  Lindsay.  The 
Lindsay  district  this  year  produced  about  55%  of  the  total  output  of 
the  County,  and  shipped  out  more  oranges  than  any  single  shipping 
point  in  the  county.  At  the  National  Orange  Show  in  San  Bernardino 
in  February  of  this  year,  Lindsay  carried  away  the  grand  Sweepstakes 
and  16  minor  prizes,  and  was  given  the  sobriquet  of  "The  most  per- 
sistent prize-winning  community  of  the  orange  belt."  The  entire 
orange  belt,  however,  produces  fruit  of  the  highest  quality,  both  soil 
and  climate  being  well  adapted  to  citrus  culture.  The  oranges  mature 
earlier  than  in  Southern  California,  and  can  be  gotten  on  the  luistern 
markets  in  time  for  Thanksgiving  and  Christmas.     Prior  to  this  year 

19 


IRRICATIOX    IN   OLIVE   ORCHARD 


there  has  jjeen  some  tendency  here  as  elsewhere  to  ship  immature  fruit. 
( iovernment  chemists  have  heen  at  work  for  some  time  to  determine 
a  proper  standard  of  maturity,  and  last  fall  announced  a  tentative 
standard  as  eight  parts  soluhle  solids  to  one  part  acid,  the  acid  to  he 
calculated  as  citric  acid  without  water  of  crystallization.  A  County 
Protective  Association  was  formed  to  enforce  this  test  and  also  a  color 
test  of  40%  orange  color  before  shipping,  and  to  certify  all  shipments 
complying  wath  these  standards.  98%  of  all  navels  shipped  from  the 
county  during  the  season  received  the  certification  of  the  Association 

-    20 


to  this  effect.  It  is  probable  that  these  standards  will  be  enacted  into 
law.  The  setting  of  these  standards  has  had  the  hearty  support  of  the 
growers,  and  it  is  recognized  that  their  observance  will  mean  much  to 
the  future  of  the  citrus  industry.  The  total  shipment  of  navel  oranges 
this  season,  up  to  March  20th,  was  5,129  cars;  the  yearly  shipment  of 
Valencia  oranges,  lemons  and  grape  fruit  will  total  over  1,000  cars. 

There  is  no  smut  on  the  oranges  in  this  county  which  obviates  the 
necessity  of  washing  them  before  packing.  The  only  dangerous  enemy 
to  the  orange  here  is  the  so-called  gray  scale.   This  has  attacked  a  large 


CRAPES 

21 


proportion  of  the  mature  citrus  orchards.  Careful  investigations  were 
carried  on  as  to  the  best  way  to  conil)at  this  scale,  and  last  summer,  in 
addition  to  soine  spraying,  very  extensive  fumigating  operations  were 
carried  on,  over  800  acres  of  trees  being  fumigated  at  a  cost  of  more 
than  $30,000.  The  work  was  done  under  County  direction  and  the 
ex^ct  cost  was  charged  against  the  growers.  The  results  were  ap- 
parently very  excellent,  though  it  will  be  necessary  to  experiment  fur- 
ther before  final  conclusions  are  reached.  The  work  will  be  resumed 
this  summer. 

Ciood  citrus  land  is  higher  priced  than  any  other  farming  land  in 
the  county,  and  the  industry  requires  more  capital  for  its  development. 
More  wealth  is  therefore  concentrated  in  the  citrus  belt  than  else- 
where in  the  county,  though  the  acreage  handled  by  one  individual  is 
usually  small.  Where  properly  carried  on  the  growing  of  citrus  fruits 
offers  very  fair  returns  on  the  investment.  Detailed  figures  as  to  cost 
and  profit  are  given  in  various  County  publications,  and  may  be  found 
there  by  those  interested. 

Combined  with  many  orange  orchards  throughout  the  citrus  belt  is 
found  the  olive  tree,  which  is  also  beginning  to  be  grown  on  a  very 
considerable  scale.  It  ofl'ers  great  promise  for  this  country,  and  is 
growing  rapidly  in  favor.  It  will  prosper  on  a  wider  variety  of  soils 
and  in  greater  extremes  of  temperature  than  the  orange,  and  many 
sections  of  the  country  seem  ideal  for  its  production.  It  is  an  ex- 
tremely long-lived  tree  (the  oldest  bearing  trees  in  United  States  were 
planted  in  1769),  and  is  considered  by  many  growers  a  better  invest- 
ment than  the  orange.  There  are  at  present  about  300  bearing  and 
1,500  non-bearing  acres  in  the  county.  This  acreage  will  be  increased 
rapidly.  Plans  for  this  year  call  for  the  setting  out  of  from  3,500  to 
4,000  acres.  No  serious  insects  or  fungus  pests  have  yet  developed. 
The  favorite  variety  is  the  Mission,  with  the  Manzanillo  second  in 
popularity. 

Second  only  to  citriculture  in  present  and  potential  importance 
among  the  County's  industries  is  viticulture.  Dinuba  is  the  center  of 
the  industry  in  this  County,  though  there  are  large  vineyards  in  many 
other  sections.  The  grapes  grown  are  of  three  classes — raisin  grapes, 
wine  grapes  and  table  grapes.  Of  these  the  raisin  grapes  are  by  far 
the  most  important,  Tulare  County  being  second  only  to  Fresno  County 
in  their  production.  The  present  bearing  acreage  of  all  grapes  in  the 
county  is  about  9,000,  with  an  additional  5,500  acres  not  in  bearing 
last  season.  The  j^referred  variety  is  the  Muscat,  though  Thompson's 
Seedless,  Sultana's,  and  certain  other  varieties  are  also  extensively 
grown.    The  output  last  season  was  Ijetween  25  and  30  million  pounds, 

22 


with  a  market  value  of  about  one  million  dollars.  The  net  profit  to  the 
grower  constitutes  a  reasonable  return  on  his  investment.  Some  wine 
is  made,  there  being  four  wineries  in  the  county,  but  its  relative  im- 
portance is  not  great. 

Of  the  deciduous  tree  fruits  the  most  important  by  far  is  the  peach, 
followed  by  prunes  and  plums,  figs,  apples  and  apricots  in  the  order 
named.  A  few  pears  are  grown,  though  most  of  the  trees  were  de- 
stroyed by  blight  some  time  ago,  and  some  cherries.  The  present 
acreage  for  these  fruits  is  as  follows :  peaches,  8,420 ;  prunes  and 
plums,  3,750;  figs,  510;  apples,  500;  apricots,  450;  pears,  70,  and 
cherries,  25.  The  apples  and  cherries  do  best  in  the  higher  altitudes 
of  the  foothills,  where  some  varieties  of  pears  also  thrive.  The  others 
are  at  home  almost  anywhere  on  the  valley  floor.  The  apples  are  ex- 
cellent as  to  size  and  color,  but  are  deficient  in  flavor.  The  other  fruits 
are  in  all  respects  of  excellent  quality.  A  considerable  acreage  of 
these  fruits  is  being  set  out  each  year,  though  just  at  present  the  prune 
acreage  seems  to  be  growing  the  most  rapidly.  Last  year  the  county 
produced  31,380  tons  of  green  peaches,  5,000  tons  of  dried  prunes, 
850  tons  of  green  plums,  450  tons  dri^d  figs,  150  tons  dried  apricots. 
The  leading  varieties  of  peach  are  the  Phillipps  and  Tuscans  for  can- 
ning, the  Muir  Lovell  and  Elberta  for  drying;  of  the  prune,  the  French 
and  Robede  Sargent ;  of  the  fig,  the  Adriatic  and  Mission.  Tulare 
County  peaches  have  taken  many  prizes,  including  first  against  the 
world  at  the  Paris  Exposition.  In  comparison  with  the  other  counties 
of  the  state,  Tulare  County  is  third  in  the  number  of  bearing  peach 


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STALL  FEEDING  ALFALFA  TO  BEEF  CATTLE 

23 


THOROUGHBRED   HOLSTEINS 

trees,  third  for  figs,  fourth  for  jjrunes  and  phims,  and  sixth  in  the 
number  of  bearing  non-tropical  orchard  trees  of  all  varieties.  The 
coddling  moth  on  the  apple  trees  and  "little  leaf"  and  the  peach  twig 
borer  are  the  chief  ailments  of  the  deciduous  fruit  trees. 

Alfalfa  is  an  important  item  in  most  sections  of  the  country,  being 
the  only  forage  crop  cultivated  extensively.  It  does  well  here,  four 
or  five  cuttings  with  a  yield  of  six  to  ten  tons  per  acre  l)eing  usual 
after  the  first  year  on  the  good  land,  though  the  average  yield  on  all 
alfalfa  fields  in  the  county  is  a  little  over  three  tons  to  the  acre.  The 
average  annual  acreage  is  around  40,000,  but  is  increasing.  A  large 
acreage  of  grain,  mostly  barley,  is  also  cut  green  each  year  for  fodder. 
Alfalfa  grain  for  sale  is  not  very  profitable  at  the  prevailing  prices, 
its  chief  claim  to  notice  as  a  profit  maker  being  in  connection  with 
dairy  or  beef  cattle. 

Tulare  County  hasn't  the  importance  it  once  had  in  the  matter  of 
beef  production,  but  there  are  projjably  at  this  time  between  50,000 
and  60,000  head  of  beef  cattle,  steers,  cows  and  calves  in  the  county. 
There  is  also  a  large  annual  importation  for  feeding.  Most  of  the 
cattle  are  grazed  on  the  foothill  ranges  and  in  the  government  forest. 
In  the  alkali  districts  some  cattle  are  grazed  on  the  salt  grasses,  which 
are  not  very  fattening,  but  grow  all  year  and  keep  the  cattle  alive. 
Extensive  experiments  are  being  made  as  to  the  profit  in  stall-feeding 
alfalfa  and  are  proving  very  successful.  Porterville  is  the  largest 
initial  beef-shipping  point  in  the  state,  its  annual  shipments  totaling 
in  value  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars. 

24 


Alfalfa  is  the  foundation  of  the  rapidly  growing  dairy  industry. 
Many  conditions  favor  the  growth  of  the  dairy  industry,  chief  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  the  climate,  abundant  crops,  and  the  prox- 
imity of  growing  markets.  In  1909  the  total  receipts  from  the  sale  of 
all  dairy  products  in  the  county  was  $942,746.  In  1914  the  receipts 
totaled  nearly  $1,500,000.  There  are  nine  creameries  in  the  county — 
at  Tulare,  Tipton,  \'isalia,  Exeter  and  Porterville,  and  two  cheese  fac- 
tories. In  general,  the  cream  only  is  sold  and  the  skim  fed  to  hogs — 
another  great  source  of  profit.  The  Holstein  is  the  favorite  dairy  cow, 
with  the  Jersey  second  choice.  There  has  been  a  constant  grading  up 
of  cattle,  particularly  in  the  neghborhood  of  Tulare,  where  there  are 
many  fine  registered,  pure-bred  cows ;  also  many  unusually  good  grade 
cows. 

The  acreage  devoted  to  the  various  cereals  is  much  smaller  now  than 
formerly,  but  is  still  considerable.  In  1909  there  were  66,567  acres  of 
wheat,  27,017  of  barley,  and  10,987  kaftiscorn  and  milo  maize,  these 
being  the  only  cereals  grown  on  a  large  scale.  This  acreage  made 
Tulare  County  first  among  the  counties  of  the  state  in  acreage  of 
wheat  and  also  of  kaffiscorn  and  milo  maize.  In  the  value  of  all  cereals 
produced  it  ranks  fifth.  The  acreage  sown  to  wheat  this  year  is  the 
largest  of  any  year  for  some  time. 

The  above  mentioned  industries  are  the  most  important  factors  in 
the  agricultural  prosperity  of  the  county.  They  by  no  means  complete 
the  list  of  the  things  which  are  raised  and  found  profitable.  There 
is  a  sugar  beet  factory  at  \'isalia,  with  a  daily  slicing  capacity  of  400 
tons,  and  another  at  Corcorran,  just  over  the  county  line,  with  a  ca- 
pacity of  600  tons.  Sugar  beets  of  high  sugar  content  are  raised  on 
Tulare  County  lands,  and  a  good  yield  per  acre  obtained,  though  the 
sugar  beet  is  not  a  sure  money  maker.  Poultry  and  bees  are  important 
income  ])roducers,  chiefly  as  adjuncts  to  other  branches  of  farming, 
though  the  number  of  exclusively  poultry  farms  is  increasing.  Small 
fruits,  vegetables  and  melons  are  raised  extensively,  especially  on  non- 
bearing  orchard  lands.  It  has  been  found  that  rice  will  grow  profit- 
ably on  land  strongly  alkaline,  if  sufficient  water  can  be  obtained,  and 
rice  culture  will  probably  increase.  Sorghum  of  good  quality  can  l)e 
grown,  and  its  cultivation  is  increasing  in  some  sections.  Tulare  County 
is  one  of  the  two  counties  of  the  state  wdiich  raises  any  considerable 
amount  of  Turkish  tol)acco.  The  tobacco  is  of  good  (|uality,  but  the 
condition  of  the  tol)acco  market  is  such  that  without  a  much  larger 
acreage  and  a  working  organization  of  the  growers  the  crop  is  not  apt 
to  be  highly  profitable.  Some  Indian  corn  is  raised,  but  it  does  not  do 
especially  well.     Sheep,  goats,  horses  and   mules  are  in  considerable 

25 


numbers.  Almonds  and  Enf^lish  walnuts  can  be  grown,  and  their  acre- 
age is  increasing.  Potatoes,  onions  and  beans  are  important  crops  in 
some  sections. 

Chapter  5 — Marketing  and  Co-operation. 

The  problem  of  marketing  is  one  of  central  importance  in  farming 
everywhere.  The  exact  form  of  the  problem  is  determined  by  various 
factors,  such  as  proximity  to  markets,  kind,  (juality  and  Cjuantity  of 
products  to  be  marketed,  trade  conditions,  including  price  and  stability 
of  the  market,  methods  of  handling  products  and  their  condition  upon 
reaching  markets,  etc.  The  great  diversity  of  Tulare  County's  prod- 
ucts gives  rise  to  some  important  and  grave  problems  in  connection 
with  their  marketing.  On  the  one  hand  we  have  a  class  of  products 
that  are  and  always  have  been  regarded  as  trade  staples ;  they  are 
classed  as  necessities,  and  the  demand  for  them  is  steady,  depending 
only  upon  the  population  to  be  supplied  and  the  quantities  on  hand. 
Such  are  dairy  products,  poultry  products,  beef,  cereals.  Then  there 
is  a  class  of  products  that  have  come  to  be  accepted  as  staples  and  are 
already  in  a  fair  way  to  be  considered  necessities,  and  for  which  there 
is  already  a  steady  and  growing  demand.     Such  are  certain  deciduous 


PORTERVILLE   CO-OPERATIVE  CANNERY 

26 


PORTERVILLE    CO-OPERATIVE    CANNERY 


fruits,  raisins,  honey.  Lastly,  there  is  a  class  of  products  for  which 
a  market  demand  at  all  commensurate  with  the  present  and  future 
supply  has  had  to  be  quite  recently  created,  and  for  which  a  much 
greater  demand  must  be  created  if  the  inevitable  increase  in  produc- 
tion is  not  to  result  in  a  serious  and  ruinous  over-production.  Their 
rank  as  trade  staples  in  a  broad  sense  is  hardly  won.  Such  are  the 
citrus  fruits,  green  and  ripe  olives  and  olive  oil.  With  the  first  class 
of  products  the  problem  is  simply  to  produce  a  first-class  article,  put 
it  on  the  market  in  good  condition,  and  there  handle  it  so  as  to  give 
the  producer  the  maximum  return  possible.  This,  of  course,  is  not  as 
simple  as  it  sounds  and  involves  many  factors,  but  it  does  not  neces- 
sitate any  campaign  to  create  markets,  increase  the  per  capita  con- 
sumption of  butter  or  eggs  by  advertising,  etc.  With  the  second  class 
of  products  the  market  has  had  to  l)e  in  a  measure  created,  Init  the 
work  is  to  a  consideralile  extent  accomplished.  The  last  class  of  prod- 
ucts have  all  the  marketing  ])roblenis  incident  to  the  first  two  classes 
I)lus  an  imj)erative  necessity  to  create  new  markets  and  greatly  extend 
old  ones.  vStandardization  and  uniform  excellence  of  products,  virtues 
in  staj:)les  like  butter,  eggs  and  beef,  become  here  prime  necessities 
whose  neglect  may   entail   ruin  upon   the  industry.      For  example,  in 

27 


DLIVE  TREES.     NOTE   GROWERS'   ASSOC  lATION    BOXES 


1913-14,  California  supplied  about  27%  of  the  total  lemon  consuni]) 
tion  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  importations  and  Florida 
orchards  accounting  for  the  remainder.  When  all  the  lemon  groves 
now  planted  come  into  l)earing,  California  will  })ro(luce,  with  only  a 
moderate  yield,  more  lemons  than  the  entire  country  now  consumes. 
And  yet  thousands  of  acres  additional  are  being  set  out  this  year.  Not 
only  must  California  lemons  entirely  displace  the  imported  and  Florida 
lemons  on  the  market  but  the  per  capita  consumption  of  lemons  must 
be  considerably   increased.     There    is   not    at  present   any   noticeable 

28 


shortage  of  oranges  to  supply  the  normal  market  demands,  though 
those  demands  have  greatly  increased  during  the  last  ten  years.  Yet 
Tulare  County  alone,  on  the  basis  of  present  acreage,  will,  within  hve 
years,  be  producing  more  than  15,000  carloads  annually  in  excess  of  its 
present  output,  and  each  year  wdll  see  a  considerable  increase  in  acre- 
age. It  is  quite  obvious  therefore  not  only  that  the  readjustments  in 
the  methods  of  handling  the  citrus  crop  wdiich  have  taken  place  in  the 
past  were  in  response  to  imperative  necessities  but  also  that  similar  re- 
adjustments must  necessarily  take  place  in  the  future.  That  is  why 
the  citrus  industry  is  to-day  the  most  highly  organized  and  efficiently 
managed  agricultural  industry  in  the  w^orld.  If  this  were  not  true  it 
would  not  take  a  prophet  to  predict  the  speedy  collapse  of  the  industry 
and  the  jeopardizing  of  the  $200,000,000  or  more  invested  in  it.  in 
view  of  the  enormously  increasing  production. 

Co-operation  in  one  form  or  another  has  become  one  of  the  great 
outstanding  features  of  the  agricultural  industries  of  Tulare  County. 
It, is  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  report  to  do  more  than  indi- 
cate the  general  nature  and  extent  of  this  co-operation,  though  the  sub- 
ject is  interesting  and  important.  The  co-operative  associations  are  of 
two  kinds — stock  corporations  doing  business  on  co-operative  lines  and 
non-profit  corporations  without  capital  stock.  The  State  Statutes  pro- 
vide for  "the  incorporation,  organization,  management  and  co-operation 
of  agricultural,  non-profit  associations  which  do  not  have  capital  stock 
and  whose  business  is  not  carried  on  for  profit.  These  associations 
issue  certificates  of  membership  to  each  member,  but  the  membership 
cannot  be  transferred  or  assigned  to  any  other  person,  nor  is  the  pur- 
chaser of  the  property  of  a  member  entitled  to  membership  by  virtue 
of  such  purchase.  In  such  associations  the  basis  of  voting  and  the 
control  of  the  membership  is  subject  to  rules  made  by  the  association. 
These  associations  may  accumulate  a  capital  with  which  to  transact 
business,  though  the  capital  is  not  in  the  form  of  a  paid-in  ca])ital 
stock.  It  may  be  accumulated  pro  rata  from  the  proceeds  of  the  ship- 
ments of  the  members,  or  in  any  other  way  agreed  to  by  the  mem- 
bers." In  actual  practise  in  this  county  most  of  such  associations  are 
conducted  with  the  "one-man,  one-vote"  principle. 

Co-operation  in  the  citrus  industry  has  several  stages.  For  the 
initial  handling  of  the  fruit,  sorting,  grading,  ])acking.  there  is  first 
the  organization  of  local  growers  maintaining  a  packing  house.  These 
local  units  unite  to  form  an  exchange.  There  are  four  exchanges  in 
the  county.  These  local  exchanges  are  members  of  the  California 
Fruit  (Growers'  Fxchange  which  handles  the  larger  concerns  of  market- 
ing, advertising,  legal  assistance  and  the  like,  and  also  maintains  a 

29 


Fruit  Growers'  Supply  Company,  through  which  the  growers  can  pur- 
chase all  kinds  of  packing  house  and  orchard  supplies  at  the  bare  cost 
of  handling  the  business.  The  largest  item  of  expense  comes  in  con- 
nection with  tlie  conduct  of  the  local  packing  house.  The  operating 
cost  of  the  county  exchanges  is  between  one  and  two  cents  per  box, 
and  of  the  State  Exchange,  including  amounts  spent  for  advertising, 
5./4C.  per  box,  an  astonishingly  low  figure.  The  exchange  marketed 
a  little  more  than  50%  of  Tulare  County's  crop  this  last  season.  With 
the  formation  this  spring  of  the  County's  fourth  exchange,  next  season 
from  60  to  65%  of  the  total  crop  will  be  so  marketed.  Not  all  of  the 
remainder  is  handled  by  commercial  organizations,  part  being  handled 
by  groups  of  growers  not  members  of  the  Exchange.  There  is  also 
to  be  mentioned  the  Citrus  Protective  League,  composed  of  both  co- 
operative associations  and  private  companies,  which  looks  after  the 
legal  interests  of  the  growers,  prosecutes  necessary  suits,  etc.  The 
cost  of  the  service  to  Exchange  members  is  included  in  the  operating 
cost  of  the  State  Exchange.  Last  of  all  a  County  Protective  Associ- 
ation was  formed  representing  98%  of  the  year's  shipments  to  secure 
enforcement  of  the  government's  maturity  standards.  Its  operating 
expense  was  one-fifth  of  a  cent  per  box.  It  is  probable  that  no  other 
industry  in  the  country  can  show  a  smaller  proportionate  over-head 
expense  in  the  handling  of  its  product.  There  are  also,  of  course,  a 
number  of  private  companies  operating  in  the  county  and  handling  a 
large  volume  of  business.  Co-operation  in  the  citrus  industry,  though 
highly  efficient,  has  been  of  slow^  growth,  and  has  not  yet  gotten  the 
support  it  deserves  from  the  whole  number  of  growers. 

The  raisin  industry  is  also  highly  organized  with  a  general  plan  of 
operation  somewhat  similar  and  co-operation  has  done  a  great  service 
here  also.    About  80%  of  the  growers  are  members  of  the  association. 

The  present  high  plane  of  the  dairy  industry  is  due  in  a  large  degree 
to  the  part  played  by  the  co-operative  creameries,  of  which  there  are 
six  in  the  County — at  Tulare  (2),  Tipton,  Visalia,  Porterville  and 
Exeter.  These  handle  a  large  and  increasing  proportion  of  the  total 
dairy  products  of  the  County. 

Other  co-operative  enterprises  concerned  with  the  marketing  of 
products  are  the  co-operative  poultry  associations  at  Tulare  and  \'isa- 
lia,  the  County  Bee-Keepers'  Association,  and  the  co-operative  can- 
neries at  Porterville  (the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  State).  Terra  Bella 
and  Tulare  handling  deciduous  fruit,  olives,  tomatoes,  etc. 

There  are  various  other  co-operative  organizations  whose  primary 
concern  is  other  than  marketing.  The  financial  and  social  importance 
of   these  organizations  varies  greatly.      The  list  would   include   nine 

30 


Rochdale  or  other  co-operative  stores,  chiefly  in  the  larger  towns ;  co- 
operative ditch  or  irrigation  associations ;  mutual  telephone  associa- 
tions ;  one  cow-testing  association  and  a  number  of  co-operative  farm 
bureaus  or  farmers'  unions  which  aim  at  some  co-operative  buying  and 
selling,  as  well  as  study  for  the  general  improvement  of  farming.  The 
interesting  feature  about  these  organizations  is  more  the  future  possi- 
bilities involved  in  the  extension  of  the  co-operative  principle  than  in 
the  scale  of  their  present  operations,  though  that  is  often  highly  im- 
portant. It  is  highly  significant,  however,  that  a  fair  proportion  of 
the  farming  population  are  steadily  moving  toward  thorough-going 
acceptance  of  the  co-operative  method  of  work  in  everything  that  con- 
cerns their  mutual  interests. 

The  limitations  of  co-operation  are  in  its  narrow  radius  of  activity. 
There  has  been  as  yet  but  little  effort  to  draw  social  or  other  than 
economic  values  from  its  operation.  The  reasons  for  this  are  not  far 
to  seek.  Co-operation  here  is  generally  confined  to  the  handling  of 
one  crop  or  to  one  clearly  defined  class  of  activities — without  doubt 
the  correct  principle.  It  has  developed  in  response  to  economic  pres- 
sure. Its  functions  have  been  limited,  and  those  limitations  definitely 
stated,  and  have  only  been  enlarged  as  necessity  arose.  The  move- 
ment is  still  quite  young  and  has  had  to  find  its  way.     It  is  upon  all 


DRYING    RAISINS 

31 


the  more  firm  a  foundation  because  its  development  has  not  been  un- 
duly forced.  Then,  too,  most  of  the  communities  have  had  other 
means  of  co-operating  in  social  and  general  concerns  through  their 
Boards  of  Trade,  the  Grange,  and  similar  organizations.  It  is  probably 
true,  however,  that  from  the  community  standpoint  much  good  will 
result  from  deliberately  strengthening  the  social  bond  and  fostering 
social  intercourse  between  the  members  of  any  given  co-operative  or- 
ganization. Its  economic  purposes  are  advanced  by  the  mutual  acquain- 
tance and  understanding  of  its  members,  and  it  is  in  addition  made  a 
stepping-stone  to  an  increase  in  the  general  prosi)erity  and  welfare  of 
the  community. 

Chapter  6 — Some  Problems  of  Farm  Administration. 

Tcnantr\. — For  the  county  as  a  whole  the  proportion  of  farms  oper- 
ated by  tenants  is  low  and  decreasing.  In  1900  it  was  23.4%.  In  1910 
it  was  but  12.3%.  Farms  set  out  to  orchards,  particularly  citrus 
orchards,  and  vineyards  are  rarely  rented.  Most  of  the  renting  is  con- 
fined to  grain  and  alfalfa  lands  and  dairy  farms.  Among  the  dairy 
men  who  rent  a  large  projjortion  arc  Portuguese.  Many  grain  and 
stock  men  wbo  own  land  are  accustomed  to  rent  some  additional  land. 
The  holding  of  land  for  sj^eculative  i)urposes  and  non-resident  owner- 
ship of  land  have  not  had  much  efi:'ect  upon  tenantry  since  most  of 
the  land  so  held  is  either  unimproved,  devoted  to  alfalfa  or  grain  or 
oj)erated  by  managers.  The  operation  of  farms  by  managers  is  in- 
creasing; the  number  of   farms  so  operated  tripled  during  the   1900- 


I1.\R\'ESTER    Wnil    TRACTOR 

o2 


1910  decade.  Where  land  is  rented  it  is  usually  on  a  year  lease  and 
for  a  cash  or  share  and  cash  consideration. 

Credit. — The  problem  of  farm  credit  is  difficult  everywhere,  and 
is  here  found  in  a  particularly  aggravated  form.  A  large  amount  of 
capital  is  required  to  develop  the  farms,  particularly  where  orchards 
are  set  out,  and  most  of  the  newcomers  buy  on  time.  Money  is  fairly 
easy  to  borrow  on  the  land  and  sometimes  on  the  improvements,  but 
the  prevailing  rates  of  interests  are  high.  In  case  of  adverse  condi- 
tions, as  in  the  winter  of  1912-13,  when  severe  fro.sts  injured  many 
young  citrus  orchards,  the  position  of  the  man  operating  on  credit  is 
not  enviable. 

Labor. — The  labor  question  is  largely  a  question  of  the  seasonal 
worker.  With  the  exception  of  the  dairy  and  cattle  business,  each 
l)ranch  of  farming  confines  its  demands  for  labor  to  a  certain  restricted 
I)eriod  of  the  year.  This  is  true  equally  of  the  citrus  and  olive  orchards, 
vineyards,  deciduous  fruit  orchards,  sugar  beets,  grain,  and  of  packing 
houses,  canneries,  etc.  These  seasonal  workers  include  men,  women 
and  children.  Orientals,  Hindoos,  Mexicans,  Indians,  and  Americans. 
In  part,  the  seasonal  work  is  done  by  residents  of  the  county  who 
take  this  means  of  supplementing  their  normal  incomes ;  this  is  par- 
ticularly true  of  the  work  of  women  and  children.  In  large  measure, 
however,  these  workers  come  in  from  outside,  sometimes  contracted 
for,  but  more  often  coming  as  individuals  to  seek  work  where  they 
can  fmd  it.  The  whole  matter  is  very  poorly  managed.  As  example, 
this  last  citrus  picking  season  may  be  cited.  Hundreds  of  workers 
arrived  on  the  ground  to  pick  the  fruit  before  they  were  needed.  More 
arrived  altogether  than  there  was  work  for.  Those  obtaining  work 
earn  fair  pay,  but  are  seldom  either  housed  or  fed  by  their  employers. 
In  consequence  the  County  at  such  times  is  filled  with  groups  of  men 
camping  in  woods  and  river  bottoms  and  begging  from  house  to  house 
and  in  the  streets  of  the  towns.  No  adequate  steps  are  taken  to  regu- 
late the  supply  of  labor  to  the  demand,  to  properly  distribute  the  labor 
or  to  properly  care  for  those  who  do  find  work ;  on  the  whole,  an  in- 
tolerable condition,  which  is  largely  taken  for  granted.  In  general,  it 
may  be  said  that  farm  labor  is  not  well  treated,  and  is  wretchedly 
housed  or  not  housed  at  all.  The  problem  of  the  supply  of  labor  is 
more  than  local  and  can  only  be  handled  by  concerted  action  ;  the  prob- 
lem of  the  care  and  housing  of  lal)or  may  l)e  considered  a  local  probleiu. 

Farming  Methods. — The  farming  of  the  county  is  in  general  of  a 
high  order  of  intelligence.  The  land  is  now  for  the  most  part  well 
treated,  though  there  are  large  stretches  of  land  of  little  present  value 
which  would  still  be  productive  were  it  not   for  mistreatment  in  the 

33 


past.  The  orchards  and  vineyards  are  in  the  main  well  cared  for. 
Cattle  are  often  very  poorly  housed,  but  this  is  of  far  less  importance 
than  in  a  more  severe  climate.  Intelligence  is  generally  used  in  se- 
lecting and  caring  for  dairy  cows.  The  best  labor-saving  machinery 
is  commonly  used.  Tractors  are  frequently  used  with  gang  plows, 
combined  harvesters,  etc. 

Farming  is  a  business  here,  and  is  conducted  on  better  business 
principles  than  in  many  sections  of  the  country.  The  farmers  are  learn- 
ing to  think  in  terms  of  interest  on  their  investment  and  labor  income 
and  to  study  the  problems  of  farm  management. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  future  of  the  farming  industry  in 
this  county  is  bright.  With  constantly  improving  methods  of  produc- 
tion, with  the  extension  of  co-operation  and  bettering  of  market  con- 
ditions, with  the  reclamation  and  utilization  of  much  now  barren  land, 
it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  continued  progress  will  be  made  for  many 
years  to  come. 


34 


PART  III. 
POPULATION  AND  SOCIAL  LIFE. 

Chapter  1 — Number,  Distribution  and  Composition  of  Population. 

In  1870  Tulare  County,  then  including  a  much  greater  territory  than 
at  present,  had  a  population  of  4,533.  In  1900,  after  another  county 
had  been  carved  out  of  its  territory,  the  population  was  18,375.  In 
1910  it  was  35,440,  an  increase  for  the  decade  of  92.9%.  For  the 
years  since  1910  no  reliable  figures  are  available.  Taking,  however,  the 
increase  in  the  Grammar  School  enrollment  as  an  index  of  the  increase 
in  total  population,  which,  under  the  circumstances,  is  fair,  it  would 
seem  that  the  1915  population  of  the  county  is  approximately  47,800, 
an  increase  in  five  years  of  over  12,000,  or  nearly  35%.  The  division 
of  the  population  into  rural  and  urban,  according  to  the  usual  census 
classification  (the  population  of  all  places  of  2,500  or  more  is  classed 
as  urban,  the  population  of  smaller  towns  and  the  open  country  as 
rural)  is  without  significance  here.  The  present  population  of  the  six 
principal  towns,  as  nearly  as  it  can  be  estimated,  is  19,950,  about  42% 
of  the  total  population.  An  additional  7  or  8  per  cent  live  in  the  va- 
rious villages  having  a  population  of  100  or  more.  About  one-half  the 
population  live  practically  in  the  open  country. 

The  northwestern  corner  of  the  county  and  certain  parts  of  the 
citrus  belt  are  the  most  densely  populated  sections.  About  45%  of  the 
total  population  are  in  the  territory  included  in  or  immediately  adjacent 
to  the  citrus  belt.  The  fruit  sections  will,  of  course,  support  a  propor- 
tionately larger  population  than  the  grain,  alfalfa  and  dairy  sections, 
since  the  per  capita  acreage  required  for  successful  farming  is  less. 
All  considerations  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  two  great  centers  of 
population  in  the  county  in  the  future  will  be  first  the  territory  tribu- 
tary to  Porterville,  Lindsay  and  Exeter,  and  second,  the  territory  tribu- 
tary to  Dinuba.  It  is  to  be  expected  that  the  three  most  important 
towns  of  the  county  in  the  future  will  be  Porterville,  Lindsay  and 
Dinul)a,  though  Exeter,  Visalia  and  Tulare  will  undoubtedly  grow 
steadily. 

In  racial  composition  the  Tulare  County  population  is  to  a  greater 
extent  native  American  than  most  California  counties.  The  native 
whites  of  native  parentage  number  about  70%,  and  of  foreign  or  mixed 
parentage  about  16%  of  the  total  population.    The  foreign  born  whites 

35 


are  11%,  and  the  remainder  are  Negroes,  Indians,  Chinese,  Japanese, 
and  other  non- whites.  For  the  state  as  a  whole  the  percentages 
are:  Native  white  of  native  parentage,  46.5%;  of  foreign  or  mixed 
parentage,  26.7%;  foreign  born  whites,  21.8%;  all  others,  5%.  Only 
one  county  in  the  state,  Modoc,  a  mountain  county,  with  a  total  popu- 
lation of  less  than  7,000,  can  show  a  higher  percentage  of  native  whites 
of  native  parentage  than  Tulare  County. 

Of  the  non-whites  the  larger  proportion  are  Japanese.  They  have 
l)een  increasing  rapidly  the  last  twenty  years,  while  the  Chinese  have 
])een  decreasing  in  numbers.  There  are  a  few  Koreans.  These  Orien- 
tals are  largely  found  in  segregated  sections  of  the  west  side  towns. 
The  few  Hindoos  in  the  county  are  scattered.  The  Indians  are  about 
a  constant  quantity,  and  are  mostly  confined  to  the  Tule  River  Indian 
Reservation  or  vicinity.  The  Negroes  have  been  increasing  in  number 
during  the  last  ten  years.  Most  of  them  are  in  the  negro  colony  at 
Allensworth,  near  the  Kings  County  line. 

Of  the  foreign  whites,  the  largest  single  group  is  of  German  birth 
or  parentage.  The  other  races,  with  a  considerable  representation  in 
the  order  of  their  numerical  importance  are  the  Canadian,  Russian, 
Mexican,  Swedish,  English,  Italian,  Portuguese,  Armenian,  Austrian 
and  Swiss.  Of  the  non-English  speaking  races,  the  largest  proportion 
of  direct  immigration  from  the  Mother  Country  in  this  generation  is 
shown  by  the  Mexicans,  Portuguese,  Armenians  and  Italians.  A  fair 
proportion  of  the  others  are  a  generation  away  from  the  "old  country." 

The  Germans  are  most  numerous  in  the  vicinity  of  Porterville  and 
Dinuba.  The  Swedish  colony  centers  in  Kingsburg.  The  Portuguese 
are  the  coming  dairymen  of  the  valley,  and  are  largely  found  in  the 
dairy  sections.  The  Mexicans  and  Italians  are  the  day  laborers,  and 
are  scattered.  The  Swiss  are  largely  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
county,  the  Danes  in  the  Porterville  district,  the  Russians  in  the  south- 
eastern part,  and  the  Austrians  scattered  through  the  southern  half 
of  the  county.  The  Armenians  are  practically  all  living  in  the  Ar- 
menian Colony  at  Yettem.  The  Mexicans  are  the  most  constantly 
shifting  of  these  foreign  groups.  The  northern  European  groups  are 
being  quite  rapidly  assimilated  in  language  and  customs,  though  the 
German  and  Swedish  people  still  use  their  own  language  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  in  their  homes  and  churches.  The  southern  Euro- 
peans, Mexicans  and  Orientals  are  mostly  colonized  or  segregated,  and 
are  not  being  assimilated.  The  Mexicans,  Austrians,  Italians  and 
Russians  are,  for  the  most  part,  on  a  low  economic  and  social  scale. 
The  Armenians  are  working  against  many  handicaps  toward  land  own- 
ership, freedom  from  debt  and  relative  prosperity.   Many  of  the  Portu- 

36 


guese  arc  doing  well.  Of  the  other  foreign  whites,  many  are  num- 
bered among  the  substantial  farmers  of  the  county. 

Of  the  strictly  American  population  the  "native  sons"  are  in  the 
minority.  Nearly  every  state  east  of  the  Rockies  has  contriljuted  of 
its  people.  Probably  the  largest  contingents  are  from  Ohio,  Illinois, 
Iowa  and  Missouri. 

Adult  males  form  a  far  larger  proportion  of  the  foreign  population 
than  of  the  native  stock.  In  some  groups,  notably,,  of  course,  the  Ori- 
entals, the  men  are  greatly  in  the  majority.  Foreign  stock  furnishes 
approximately  38%  of  all  the  men  of  voting  age  in  the  county,  as 
•against  30%  of  the  total  population.  More  than  half  of  these  are 
naturalized.  It  is  to  be  expected  that  those  of  foreign  birth  would  be 
in  general  on  a  lower  cultural  level  than  those  of  native  birth.  Illiteracy 
is  one  test.  The  number  of  native  whites  who  are  illiterate  is  a  negligi- 
ble proportion.  About  13%  of  the  foreign  whites  and  over  17%  of  the 
Negroes  are  illiterate. 

Chapter  2 — Some  Community  Characteristics, 

The  rapid  increase  of  population  has  not  been  altogether  by  per- 
manent acquisition,  either  as  regards  the  County  or  its  several  com- 
munities. There  has  been  continually  a  considerable  shifting,  particu- 
larly noticeable  in  some  sections.  A  rapidly  growing  community,  a 
shifting  community,  a  community  of  diverse  racial  elements  might  be 
expected  to  show  many  marks  of  instability.  Add  to  this  a  large  an- 
nual influx  of  population  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  made  up  in 
part  of  itinerant,  seasonal  workers,  in  part  of  property  owners  having 
their  permanent  residence  elsewhere  and  in  part  of  tourists,  and  you 
have  a  situation  which  would  make  the  acquisition  of  community  sta- 
bility a  slow  and  difficult  process.  As  a  single  instance  of  the  condi- 
tion that  makes  the  problem,  we  may  take  a  prosperous,  land-owning 
group,  the  orange  growers  around  Porterville.  (Jut  of  327  present 
owners  of  orange  groves  here,  91  have  moved  into  the  community 
within  the  last  five  years,  and  69  are  non-residents — a  little  more  than 
half  are  residents  of  over  five  years'  standing.  These  327  men  repre- 
sent a  substantial  ])roportion  of  the  valuation  of  the  taxal)le  properly 
in  the  district. 

Normally,  the  surface  indications  of  such  a  condition  of  instability 
would  be  found  in  the  status  of  institutions  like  the  church  and  the 
school,  in  the  presence  or  lack  of  needed  improvements,  in  the  conduct 
of  public  business,  etc.  The  deeper,  more  essential  indications  would 
have  to  be  looked  for  in  the  community  sjnrit,  traditions,  religions, 
cultural  and  social  life,  attitude  toward  progress  and  reform  and  gen- 

2604(>7 


eral  social  control.  That  the  outward  indications  of  instability  are  as 
few  as  they  are  is  due  to  a  combination  of  circumstances,  operating 
to  change  the  normally  expected  results.  Chief  among  these  are  the 
advertising,  "boom"  spirit  of  the  newer  sections  and  the  more  or  less 
unconscious  rivalry  between  districts,  together  with  the  generally  pre- 
vailing, substantial  prosperity.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  towns, 
to  a  less  extent  of  the  country.  Take  for  example  the  physical  equip- 
ment of  schools  and  churches.  Many  localities  have  put  into  school 
equipment  much  larger  sums  than  one  would  expect ;  in  some  cases 
more  than  present  circumstances  warrant.  Likewise,  many  churches 
have  been  given  an  ecjuipment  all  out  of  proportion  to  their  normal 
religious  and  financial  strength  and  ecjually  out  of  proportion  to  the 
subsequent  response  of  the  communities  to  their  ministrations.  All 
this  on  the  principle  that  a  town,  to  grow,  must  have  a  good  school  and 
church.  In  like  manner,  general  {Hiblic  improvements  are  usually  more 
than  adequately  supported,  at  least  in  comparison  with  many  old  settled 
sections  of  the  country. 

As  regards  the  sub-surface  indications,  the  condition  is  different. 
Most  communities  in  the  county  have  the  astonishing  virility  of  youth. 
They  are  growing  rapidly  in  population  and  prosperity,  and  are  de- 
termined to  look  the  part  and  do.  They  are  progressive  and  broad- 
minded.  In  public,  as  in  private  affairs,  they  operate  on  a  large  scale. 
They  are  accustomed  to  think  in  large  units,  and  though  not  without 
local  pride  are  or  are  becoming  relatively  free  from  that  narrow  pro- 
vincialism which  is  the  besetting  sin  of  so  many  rural  communities. 
Their  appreciation  of  the  value  of  organization  is  expressed  in  their 
Boards  of  Trade,  fraternal  and  social  organizations,  women's  clubs, 
co-operative  associations  and  similar  movements.  Local  and  county 
affairs  are  conducted  on  a  non-partisan  basis  (in  accordance  with  the 
state  law).  For  sound  business  reasons  they  have  supported  many 
necessary  social  reforms,  such  as  the  suppression  of  the  liquor  problem 
and  the  regulation  of  gambling.  An  example  of  the  flexibility  and 
entire  adequacy  of  the  machinery  which  is  available  for  getting  certain 
kinds  of  things  done  is  provided  by  the  truly  remarkable  county  ex- 
hibit at  the  San  Diego  Exposition.  All  this  and  much  more  is  very 
greatly  to  their  credit.  It  means  that  these  communities  are  creating 
a  very  wholesome  body  of  tradition,  and  are  developing  for  themselves 
some  very  useful  social  machinery. 

At  the  same  time  there  are  many  things  to  remind  us  that  the  breezi- 
ness  of  youth  and  the  mellow  culture  and  refinements  of  age  do  not 
often  alike  characterize  the  same  individuals  or  the  same  communities. 
We  will  have  occasion  at  a  later  point  to  mention  certain  character- 

38 


WOMAN'S   CLUB,   TULARE 


istics  of  the  early  settlement  of  this  region.  Suffice  it  to  say  here  that 
most  of  the  substantial  progress  is  of  recent  occurrence,  and  that  what 
remains  of  the  pioneer  spirit  is  reactionary  in  tendency.  These  com- 
munities have  had  to  be  re-created.  Their  earlier  days  have  made 
practically  no  permanent  contributions  either  in  temper  or  policy. 
When  we  consider  what  their  future  will  be  we  may  say  that  in  a  very 
real  sense  they  have  no  past.  There  is  still  too  much  of  a  flux  in  their 
affairs  to  give  one  any  feeling  of  permanence.  One  is  tempted  to  say 
that  for  many  years  to  come  the  county  will  appear  to  be  too  large  for 
its  clothes.  Another  thoroughly  Calif ornian  characteristic  is  here  no- 
ticeable. California,  more  perhaps  than  any  other  state  in  the  Union, 
feels  itself  constantly  on  exhibition.  Each  of  its  component  parts  says 
constantly  to  the  world  at  large,  "Here  I  am;  I  am  beautiful  and  pros- 
perous ;  come,  admire  me."  Everything  in  the  State — farms,  moun- 
tains, forests,  parks  and  all — is  on  the  counter,  price-marked  and  for 
sale.  If  we  may  believe  her  agents,  California  is  a  very  "great  bar- 
gain." There  is  something  rather  irritating  about  this  to  the  disin- 
terested spectator  who  longs  to  discover  one  beautiful  thing  in  the 
State  whose  charms  have  not  been  flaunted  at  him  from  every  bulletin 
board,  and  which  he  has  not  been  persistently  urged  to  inspect,  rent, 
purchase  or  otherwise  enjoy.  He  remembers  that  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  being  too  proud  of  your  community  to  over-praise  her  in  every 
passing  ear. 

On  the  other  hand,  California's  residents  have  themselves  an  un- 
doubted appreciation  of  beauty,  and  the  state  is  undoubtedly  character- 
ized by  a  growing  idealism.    This  is  expressed,  for  one  thing,  in  much 

39 


of  her  recent  legislation,  which  shows  an  intelligent  interest  in  a  vast 
variety  of  social  problems.  Nowhere  is  this  idealism  more  noticeable 
than  in  the  San  Joaquin  valley,  where,  among  many  influences  tending 
in  this  direction,  one  may  particularly  mention  the  Fresno  Republican, 
the  one  really  distinguished  newspaper  in  the  state  which  circulates 
widely  through  the  valley.  There  are  many  problems  for  this  spirit  to 
cope  with  which  will  test  it  severely.  Such  problems  as  are  presented 
by  the  unemployed  and  by  the  casual  worker,  by  the  necessity  of  as- 
similating many  diverse  racial  elements,  by  the  question  of  the  social 
control  of  the  individual,  particularly  of  the  unattached  individuals  so 
characteristic  of  the  West — to  mention  only  a  few — are  what  test  any 
community's  inherent  strength.  One  wishes  that  the  Boards  of  Trade 
and  similar  organizations,  very  excellent  in  their  way,  would  view  their 
opportunities  in  a  difTerent  light  and  adopt  some  broader  plan  of  action 
which  would  look  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  country  in  other  ways  than 
by  advertising  it. 

There  is  very  little  resembling  social  caste  in  the  county.  In  this 
connection  certain  generalizations  may  safely  be  made.  Each  of  the 
various  foreign  communities,  such  as  the  German  Lutheran  commu- 
nity at  Deer  Creek,  the  Mennonite  community  west  of  Dinuba,  the 
Swedish  community  near  Kingsburg,  the  Armenian  community  at 
Yettem,  is,  in  the  main,  of  a  single  economic  and  social  level.  Else- 
where the  people  very  generally  fraternize  together,  without  many 
hard  and  fast  lines  being  drawn,  except  on  the  basis  of  racial  differ- 
ences.    Of  course,  there  are  the  usual  social  groupings  on  the  basis  of 


PORTERVILLE    LIBRARY 

40 


DINUBA   CHAMBER  OF   COMMERCE 


taste,  congeniality,  religious  preference,  business  interests,  and  so  forth. 

In  most  parts  of  the  county  there  is  developing  quite  a  well-defined 
community  consciousness.  This  is  advanced  by  the  spirit  of  advertis- 
ing and  development.  l)ut  hindered  by  the  fact  that  so  much  of  the 
economic  and  social  life  of  the  county  centers  in  the  half-dozen  large 
towns.  The  more  important  social  gatherings,  wherever  held,  are  apt 
to  draw  from  long  distances.  Yet  in  most  localities,  whether  country 
or  town,  where  there  are  enough  people  living  sufficiently  near  together 
there  is  a  fairly  well-developed  communitv  social  life.  It  may  l)e  re- 
marked, too,  that  in  California  a  good  deal  is  made  of  the  county. 
This  is  the  unit  for  the  transaction  of  most  of  the  common  l)usincss, 
and  is  also  the  unit  in  a  good  deal  of  the  advertising.  The  county, 
therefore,  figures  (|uitc  largely  in  the  indixichial's  localizing  of  himself. 

It  is  ])robable  that  matters  connected  with  the  business  interests  of 
the  county,  particularly  farming,  are  the  largest  factors  in  directing 
l)ublic  oi)inion.  The  individuals  who  have  a  consideral)le  degree  of 
personal  influence  owe  their  leadership  usually  to  their  Imsiness  con- 
nections. Ministers  and  teachers,  with  a  few  exceptions,  exercise  little 
direct  control  over  men's  o])inions  and  actions,  ])artly,  at  least,  because 
their  tenure  of  ])osition  is  usually  so  l)rief.  The  different  public  offi- 
cials, of  course,  by  virtue  of  their  positions,  exercise  a  varying  degree 
of  influence.  The  more  important  ones  ai)pear  to  have  the  confidence 
of  the  i)eople,  who  seem  to  consider  that  their  local  and  countv  aff'airs 
are  well  taken  care  of — as  they  are. 

In  the  matter  of  housing  conditions,  it  is  diflicult  to  generalize  for 

41 


Lf!i3s 


ALL     A         STRATHMORE 
*  CHAMBER    OF 
COMMERCE 


^^  MISTAKE 


Pu^sThoolNOV 
**!  House i7&|8 


BOOSTING    STRATHMORE 

any  part  of  the  county.  In  all  the  towns,  and  most  farming  sections, 
are  to  be  seen  many  attractive  homes.  Equally  prevalent  are  shacks 
and  temporary  structures  of  almost  every  sort.  Made-over  freight 
cars,  one-room  houses,  structures  ultimately  destined  to  be  pump 
houses,  house  wagons,  buildings  half  frame,  half  tent-cloth — almost 
anything  imaginable  in  the  way  of  a  shelter  will  serve  as  a  dwelling 
for  some  family.     In  this  respect  it  is  a  county  of  curious  contrasts. 

The  cost  of  living  is,  on  the  whole,  not  excessive,  even  for  those  who 
are  not  in  a  position  to  grow  a  part  of  their  living.  Rents  are  high  ; 
fuel  is  expensive  (and  more  of  it  needed  than  one  might  think),  but 
foodstuffs  are  very  reasonable  in  price. 

Chapter  3 — Organization,   Recreation  and   Morality. 

Scattered  throughout  the  county  are  many  organizations  of  many 
sorts — commercial,  civic,  social,  fraternal,  athletic,  literary,  agricul- 
tural, educational  and  religious.  Those  coming  under  the  last  two 
heads  will  be  discussed  separately.  To  make  a  detailed  list  of  the 
names,  functions  and  activities  of  all  the  others  would  be  a  tedious 
and,  for  our  present  purpose,  profitless  undertaking.  There  is  hardly 
a  corner  of  the  county  that  would  not  be  represented  in  such  a  list. 
Some  of  these  organizations  are  local  in  character;  some  represent 
whole  districts,  while  others  are  practically  county-wide  in  scope.  The 
County  Board  of  Trade  is  the  most  active,  and  in  many  respects  the 
most  important  of  all  these  organizations.  It  has  its  headquarters  at 
Visalia,  the  County  Seat.  Its  membership  includes  twenty-one  local 
Boards  of  Trade  or  Chambers  of  Commerce,  representing  respectively, 

42 


Dinuba,  Ducor,  J'lxeter.  Lindsay,  (Jrosi,  Porterville,  Tulare,  Terra 
Bella,  Springville,  "V'isalia,  Strathmore,  Alj)augh,  Cutler,  Klink,  Farm- 
ersville,  Lemon  Cove,  Pixley,  Sultana,  Three  Rivers,  Tipton  and 
Woodlake.  These  organizations  exist  primarily  to  advertise  their  local 
resources,  though  their  function  in  their  communities  is  actually  much 
broader  than  that.  The  Grange,  and  almost  all  of  the  fraternal  organi- 
zations, are  well  represented  in  the  county.  Women's  clubs,  Civic  Im- 
provement clubs.  Women's  Boards  of  Trade,  or  similar  organizations, 
are  in  the  more  important  communities.  The  other  organizations  play 
an  important  part  in  the  social,  literary  and  business  life  of  the  county. 
During  the  past  season  many  of  them  have  given  plays,  festivals,  carni- 
vals, or  other  functions  of  a  public  or  semi-public  character. 

Except  in  the  most  isolated  localities  the  recreation  facilities  are,  in 
the  main,  adequate.  Public  functions,  such  as  dances,  plays,  festivals, 
etc.,  draw  from  a  large  territory.  The  larger  places  have  their  moving- 
picture  theatres,  showing  the  usual  collection  of  excellent,  indifferent 
and  trashy  films.  There  is  a  growing  tendency  in  some  of  the  theatres, 
at  least,  to  show  a  better  grade  of  pictures.  The  stock  theatres  show 
the  regular  grade  of  "road  shows,"  ranging  from  "Everywoman"  and 
"Peg  o'  My  Heart"  to  "Mutt  and  Jeff"  and  the  "Sunshine  Girls."  In 
Visalia  a  new  and  very  excellent  playhouse  has  just  been  opened,  and 
will  hereafter  bill  most  of  the  attractions  which  play  Fresno,  which  will 
include  some  superior  productions.  There  are  few  opportunities  af-^ 
forded  the  county  to  hear  good  music,  the  better  class  of  musical  en- 
tertainments not  receiving  very  good  support.  The  High  Schools,  and 
most  of  the  larger  grammar  schools,  have  some  form  of  organized 
athletics.  The  movement  to  establish  parks  and  play-grounds  is  well 
under  way.  The  towns  are  fairly  overrun  with  pool-rooms,  which  ap- 
parently do  a  thriving  business.  The  mountains  are  accessible  to 
everyone,  and  offer  unrivalled  opportunities  for  tramping,  hunting, 
fishing  and  camping.  To  a  far  less  extent  than  is  often  the  case  are 
the  recreation  facilities  exploited  for  financial  gain. 

Moral  conditions  are,  in  the  main,  good.  There  are  no  saloons  in 
the  county,  and  a  conscientious  eff'ort  is  made  to  curtail  the  illicit  sell- 
ing of  liquor.  There  is  little  gambling,  though  lotteries,  guessing  con- 
tests and  similar  devices  of  a  mild  sort  abound.  There  is  no  longer  any 
flagrant  social  evil,  and  crime  in  general  is  more  iufreciuent  than  one 
might  expect.  Within  the  last  half-dozen  years  there  has  been  a 
marked  improvement  in  moral  conditions,  'ihere  is  generally  no  strict 
observance  of  the  Sabbath,  which,  in  many  sections,  is  the 
big  day  of  the  week,  from  a  recreation  standpoint.  Many  games  and 
entertainments   of   various   sorts   are   scheduled    for  that   day,   and   a 

43 


■ 

C 

__,jjjjHii^  - 

HMHPI 

wi^ 

A   GROUP  OF  TULARE  COUNTY  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES 


44 


number  of  moving-picture  theatres  are  open  Sundays,  both  afternoon 
and  evening. 

Chapter  4 — Some  County  Institutions. 

A  study  of  the  civil  government  of  the  county,  and  of  the  methods 
of  conducting  pubhc  business,  would  be  very  interesting  and  profitable, 
if  it  were  sufficiently  germaine  to  the  purpose  of  this  survey  to  warrant 
it.  It  will  be  necessary  to  disregard  all  but  two  or  three  points.  The 
office  of  the  County  Horticultural  Commissioner  is  of  very  great  im- 
portance in  connection  with  the  fruit  industry  of  the  county.  His 
work  is  primarily  that  of  an  horticultural  health  officer.  It  is  his  duty 
to  examine  all  shipments  of  fruit  trees  or  vines  coming  into  the  county, 
to  prevent  the  introduction  of  any  infected  stock;  to  see  that  proper 
steps  are  taken  to  protect  the  county  against  the  ravages  of  any  pest 
that  may  have  found  lodgement  in  orchard  or  vineyard,  and,  in  gen- 
eral, to  advance  the  horticultural  interests  of  the  county.  He  is  given 
sufficient  funds  to  employ  necessary  inspectors,  and  otherwise  carry 
on  the  work  of  the  office.  There  is  a  County  Board  of  Forestry  and  a 
County  Forester,  whose  general  concern  is  the  shade  and  ornamental 
trees  on  the  highways  and  other  public  property  in  the  county. 

One  of  the  most  important  county  institutions  is  the  County  Library, 
which  is  rapidly  extending  its  range  of  influence.  In  1913  this  library 
had  twenty-eight  branches  scattered  through  the  coimty.  One  year 
later  it  had  fifty-four,  and  last  fall  the  number  had  increased  to  sixty- 
three.  In  addition,  it  co-operates  with  the  city  libraries  maintained  in 
Visalia,  Porterville  and  Tulare.  The  total  operating  expense  of  the 
County  Library  for  the  year  ending  June  30th,  1914,  was  about  $12,- 
000.  This  year  it  will  be  about  $15,000.  The  library  owns  13,500 
volumes,  and  has  access  to  the  State  Library's  200,000  volumes.  Each 
branch  receives  fifty  volumes  of  general  character  every  three  months 
at  county  expense,  as  well  as  special  volumes  which  may  have  been 
requested.  Packages  of  books  will  also  be  sent  by  parcel  post  wherever 
needed.  Last  year  2,400  special  requests  for  books  were  filled.  Books 
on  every  line  of  research  will  be  sent  whenever  requested,  if  obtain- 
able. The  Library  aims  to  foster  interest  in  reading  and  to  establish 
branches  everywhere  in  the  county  where  there  are  no  library  facilities. 
Books  may  be  secured  from  the  State  Library  and  sent  at  State  ex- 
pense direct  to  the  borrower's  home  station.  In  addition,  individual 
borrowers  may  obtain  books  directly  from  the  County  or  State  Library 
by  parcel  post  without  expense.  The  three  city  libraries  together  have 
about  6,000  registered  readers,  i.  e.,  card  holders  and  the  sixty-three 
county  branches  have  about  7,000  more,  13,000  in  all,  or  more  than 

45 


One-fourth  of  the  county's 
population.  Of  the  sixty- 
three  l)ranches  at  present 
maintained,  twenty-eight 
are  in  pubhc  schools,  eight 
are  in  separate  reading 
rooms  with  salaried  custo- 
dians, twenty-seven  are  in 
stores  or  private  homes. 

Another  highly  impor- 
tant county  institution 
which  is,  however,  unoth- 
cial  in  character,  is  the 
County  Y.  M.  C.  A.  This 
was  organized  in  January, 
1914,  but  has  already  more 
than  justified  its  existence, 

having  indeed  in  its  first  year  captured  the  state  record  for  the  number 
of  groups  of  boys  and  young  men  organized  and  the  total  number  of 
members  enrolled.  Operating  on  a  budget  last  year  of  a  little  over 
$3,300,  the  first  annual  report  shows  the  following  tangible  results  of 
the  work; 


Y.  M.  C.  A.  CAMP 


THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  CAMP  SWIMMING  HOLE 


46 


220  boys  attended  camps  or  went  on  hikes  under  competent  leaders. 

22  groups,  with  316  members,  were  organized  for  Bible  study  and 
recreation.  The  leaders  included  3  ranchers,  4  business  men,  1  min- 
ister, 3  students,  5  school  principals  and  5  other  teachers. 

282  men  and  boys  attended  various  conferences  and  conventions. 

102  boys  were  given  physical  examinations. 

Attendance   3  Father   and    Son   Banquets 304 

18  Stunt   Nights 401 

"  . .   Addresses  at  Schools 830 

38  General  Talks    3,061 

Ninnlier   proposed   conversions    27 

"  leaders  at  work  during  year 25 

"  men  and  boys  participating  in  work 400 

"  men  interviewed    1,000 

"  leaders   and   committeemen 79 

"  pieces  mail  matter  sent  out 3,000 

"  miles   traveled   by   secretary 6,500 

The  Association  has  a  full-time  salaried  Secretary,  with  headquar- 
ters at  Lindsay.  For  the  first  year  of  work  the  above  constitutes  a 
splendid  record  when  the  size  and  nature  of  the  county  are  considered, 
and  promises  much  for  the  future.  The  work  so  far  has  been  in  the 
more  popvdous  centers  and  where  leaders  could  be  obtained.  As  fast 
as  leaders  are  found  or  developed  elsewhere  the  work  will  be  extended. 


47 


PART  IV. 
EDUCATION. 

Chapter  1 — Organization  and  Finance. 

The  elcnienlarv  schools  of  Cahfornia  are  organized  on  a  semi-county 
or  county  and  district  basis.  The  entire  county  is  (Hvided  into  local 
school  districts,  varying  in  size  and  population,  in  each  of  which  there 
is  one  school  or  more,  according  to  need,  h^ach  district  has  a  l)oard 
of  three  trustees,  holding  office  for  three  years  and  elected  in  rotation. 
There  is  a  County  Superintendent,  elected  by  the  people  of  the  County 
at  large  at  the  time  of  each  gul)ernatorial  election,  and  also  a  County 
Board  of  Education,  consisting  of  the  County  Superintendent  as  Secre- 
tary and  four  others  appointed  by  the  County  Board  of  Supervisors. 
The  four  so  appointed  hold  oi^ce  for  two  years  each,  and  two  are 
appointed  each  year.  A  majority  of  them  must  be  experienced  teachers, 
holding  not  lower  than  grammar  school  certificates  in  full  force.  If 
there  are  High  Schools  in  the  County,  at  least  one  member  of  the 
Board  must  hold  a  certificate  of  High  School  grade.  The  entire  con- 
trol over  the  elementary  schools  of  the  county,  subject  to  the  general 
laws  of  the  State,  is  vested  in  these  three  sources  of  authority.  The 
duties  of  each  are  carefully  defined  by  statute.  Their  more  important 
functions,  omitting  matters  pertaining  only  to  the  routine  of  adminis- 
tration, may  be  summarized  as  follows :  The  Superintendent  is  (a)  to 
superintend  the  work  of  the  schools  of  the  county;  (b)  to  apportion 
the  school  funds  among  the  various  districts ;  ( c)  on  the  order  of  any 
Board  of  School  Trustees  to  make  his  requisition  upon  the  County 
Auditor  for  all  necessary  expenses  chargeable  against  the  school  funds 
of  that  district  (the  County  Treasurer  being  custodian  of  all  school 
funds)  ;  (d)  to  visit  and  examine  each  school  in  the  County  at  least 
once  each  year ;  (c)  to  arrange  for  and  preside  over  an  annual  teach- 
ers' institute,  and  see  that  all  teachers  attend  same ;  (f)  to  pass  upon 
and  approve  of  or  reject  all  plans  for  new  school  houses;  (g)  to  fill 
vacancies  which  may  occur  in  any  Board  of  Trustees  during  term; 
(h)  to  issue  temporary  teachers'  certificates.  The  County  Board  of 
Education  has  power  to  (a)  examine  applicants  and  grant  teachers' 
certificates ;  (b)  adopt  a  list  of  books  and  apparatus  from  which  all 
selections  must  be  made  for  the  district  school  libraries ;  (c)  issue 
diplomas  of  graduation  from  the  elementary  schools;   (d)  prescribe 

48 


the  course  of  study  to  be  followed  in  each  grade  of  the  elementary 
schools.  The  duties  of  the  District  Board  of  Trustees  are  to  (a)  pre- 
scribe and  enforce  rules  for  the  government  of  the  school  or  schools 
of  their  district,  not  inconsistent  with  the  law  or  the  rules  prescribed 
by  the  State  Board  of  Education;  (b)  manage  and  control  all  school 
property ;  (c)  purchase  school  furniture  and  apparatus,  following 
the  specifications,  if  any,  of  the  County  Board  of  Education;  (d) 
when  directed  by  vote  of  the  district  build  school  houses  or  purchase 
or  sell  lots;  (e)  employ  the  necessary  teachers  and  janitors,  fix  and 
order  paid  their  compensation ;  (f)  in  general,  control  all  the  local 
affairs  of  the  school,  such  as  discipline,  care  and  use  of  buildings  and 
grounds,  enforcement  of  prescribed  course  of  study,  etc.  Each  of 
them  is  required  to  visit  each  school  in  his  district  at  least  once  a 
year.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  method  of  organization  preserves 
some  of  the  weak  points  inherent  in  the  district  system,  while  adding 
many  of  the  strong  points  of  the  county  unit  system  of  organization. 
Certain  of  these  points  will  be  referred  to  at  a  later  point  in  the  dis- 
cussion. 

Three  parties  are  concerned  in  the  financing  of  the  schools — State, 
County  and  District.  The  bulk  of  the  maintenance  money  comes  from 
State  and  County  funds.  The  District  may  vote  to  supplement  these 
funds  for  maintenance,  and  has  the  entire  expense  of  providing  all 
necessary  equipment  except  text  books,  which  are  furnished  free  by 
the  State,  and  library  books  and  apparatus,  which  are  provided  for 
Ijy  a  County  fund.  The  State  school  funds  are  apportioned  on  the 
basis  of  $250  per  year  for  every  teacher  to  which  the  district  is  en- 
titled, and  the  balance  on  the  basis  of  the  average  daily  attendance 
for  the  preceding  year.  The  minimum  which  the  County  is  allowed 
to  appropriate  is  the  difference  between  the  amount  received  from 
the  State  and  $550  for  each  teacher.  This  must  not  amount  to  less 
than  $13  for  each  pupil  in  average  daily  attendance.  If  more  is  given, 
it  is  apportioned  on  the  basis  of  attendance.  A  District  is  considered 
to  be  entitled  to  one  teacher  for  the  first  35  pupils  or  less  in  average 
daily  attendance,  and  one  additional  teacher  for  each  additional  35  or 
fraction  thereof  not  less  than  10.  Where  there  are  less  than  10  above 
35  or  multiple,  $40  of  State  and  County  money  is  allowed  for  each 
pupil  additional.  All  State  money,  and  not  less  than  50%  of  the 
County  money,  must  be  spent  for  salaries  of  teachers.  The  County 
tax  may  not  exceed  50c.  on  each  $100  valuation.  The  District  is 
allowed  to  vote  a  building  tax  at  a  rate  not  to  exceed  70c.  on  the  $100, 
or  a  maintenance  tax  not  to  exceed  30c. 

Last  year  the  County  tax  was  35c.  on  the  $100,  and  the  apportion- 

49 


50 


A  LIVING  WAGE  FOR  TEACHERS 

AVERAGE  MONTHLY  SALARY 
155  RURAL  e.nd VILLAGE  TEACHERS 


86-  W^OMEM 


106-  MEN 


ment  of  State  and  County  money  was  $550  per  teacher  and  $20  per 
pupil,  which  included  the  library  fund.  This  last  is  a  special  fund  for 
the  purchase  of  library  books  and  apparatus.  The  law  provides  that 
not  less  than  5%,  nor  more  than  10%,  of  the  County  school  fund  due 
each  district  shall  constitute  a  library  fund,  provided  that  this  amount 
shall  not  exceed  $50  per  year,  unless  there  are  5  or  more  teachers 
employed  in  the  district,  when  it  shall  be  not  less  than  $10,  nor  more 
than  $15,  per  teacher.  This  means  that  the  smallest  and  poorest  rural 
school  can  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  build  up  a  fine  working  library 
of  general  and  supplemental  works. 

During  the  last  year  19  districts  outside  the  larger  towns  voted  a 
special  tax  for  maintenance,  the  rate  varying  from  5c.  to  30c.  on  the 
$100;  49  levied  a  tax  (bond  issue)  for  building  purposes,  the  rate 
here  varying  from  5c.  to  56c. 

This  method  of  financing  the  schools  insures  sufficient  funds  to 
every  district  for  at  least  a  reasonably  efficient  school.  The  provision 
regarding  the  proportion  of  the  funds  which  must  be  used  for  salaries 
means  salaries  that  at  the  minimum  are  well  above  the  average  paid 
rural  school  teachers  the  country  over.  For  example,  a  school  has,  let 
us  say,  an  average  attendance  of  25.  It  receives  $550  and  $20  per 
pupil  or  $1,050.  Deducting  $50  for  a  library  fund,  without  voting  any 
money  to  the  district,  the  school  could  pay  its  teacher  $75  a  month  for 
nine  months  and  have  $325  left  for  contingent  expenses.  A  further 
advantage  is  that  the  financially  strong  communities  in  this  way  help 
pay  at  least  the  minimum  expenses  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of 
adequate  schools  in  those  communities  which  are  financially  weak. 

There  were  during  1913-14,  127  school  districts,  wholly  or  partly  in 
Tulare  County,  maintaining  elementary  schools.  The  total  mainte- 
nance expense  for  the  year  was  $289,444.84,  and  the  exjjense  for  new 

51 


buildings,  sites  and  furniture  was  $88,318.90;  a  grand  total  of  ^377,- 
763.74.  About  46%  of  this  total  was  incurred  by  the  districts  repre- 
senting the  six  largest  towns — Visalia,  Porterville,  Tulare,  Lindsay, 
Dinuba  and  Exeter.  For  the  remainder  of  the  county  the  maintenance 
expense  was  $156,971.39,  and  the  expense  for  buildings,  sites,  etc., 
$56,735.19;  a  total  of  $213,706.58.  The  maintenance  expense  may  be 
itemized  as  follows :  salaries,  $120,857.83,  or  77%  ;  library  books  and 
ai)paratus,  $3,474.65,  or  3.5%;  contingent  expenses,  $29,637.91,  or 
19.5%.  The  total  enrollment  for  the  year  was  8,105  (3,798  in  the  six 
towns;  4,307  in  the  country),  and  the  average  daily  attendance  was 
6,899  (3,358  and  3,541).  The  total  maintenance  cost  for  the  year 
would  therefore  average  $35.71  per  pupil  on  the  basis  of  enrollment, 
or  $41.95  on  the  basis  of  average  daily  attendance — ^a  remarkable  high 
average  for  similar  conditions.  This  is  the  more  remarkable,  however, 
when  it  is  observed  that  the  average  cost  of  maintaining  the  rural 
schools  considerably  exceeds  the  cost  of  the  town  schools.  On  the 
basis  of  enrollment,  the  cost  in  the  towns  was  $33.98  per  pupil ;  in  the 
country,  $37.31 ;  the  difference  is  slightly  more  marked  when  figured 
on  the  basis  of  attendance,  being  $39.45  for  the  towns  and  $44.33  for 
the  country.  Such  a  difference  would  be  expected  under  the  California 
system,  since  the  rural  schools  averaging  smaller  in  size  would  average 
higher  in  the  amount  of  State  and  County  money  received  per  capita. 
How  unusual  this  is  for  the  entire  country  will  be  seen  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  the  average  annual  expenditure  on  rural  school  children 
in  the  entire  United  States  probably  does  not  exceed  $15.00.  The  dif- 
ference is  very  greatly  to  California's  credit,  though  it  brings  to  light 
one  weakness  inherent  in  the  district  system.  At  least  a  partial  con- 
solidation of  the  smaller  district  schools  could  be  eft'ected,  particularly 
in  sections  having  schools  near  together  and  with  good  roads,  which 
would  give  educational  results  of  equal  or  greater  value  at  a  propor- 
tionately lower  expense.  But  consolidation  is  proverbially  difficult  to 
effect  under  a  district  system  of  organization. 

The  total  valuation  of  all  elementary  school  property  for  the  county 
is  $934,490,  of  which  amount  $852,650  is  in  buildings,  sites  and  fur- 
niture ;  $44,790  in  libraries,  and  $37,050  in  apparatus.  The  bonded 
indebtedness  of  the  various  districts  aggregates  $449,615,  a  little  more 
than  half  of  the  valuation.  For  the  country  schools,  the  figures  are: 
buildings,  sites  and  furniture,  $409,650;  libraries,  $37,590;  apparatus, 
$28,850;  total,  $476,090,  with  a  bonded  indebtedness  of  $283,315. 
These  items  have  been  somewhat  increased  this  current  year  through 
the  construction  of  several  new  buildings  and  the  voting  of  building 
bonds  in  several  more. 

52 


Chapter   2 — Buildings, 
Equipment  and  Grounds. 

The  rest  of  the  data  pre- 
sented on  elementary 
schools  is  for  the  current 
year,  1914-15,  and  is  only 
for  those  schools  visited 
during  the  course  of  this 
survey.  Certain  omissions 
from  the  entire  roster  of 
schools  are  to  be  noted. 
Since  the  interest  of  this 
survey  is  primarily  in  the 
rural     and     small     village 

communities,  the  schools  in  the  six  larger  towns  are 
There  are  ten  joint  districts  in  this  county,  i.  e., 
which     include     territory     from    two     or     more     counties. 


THE  NEW    ^^o.uuu  AND  liiE  ULD  aciiuuL 
BUILDING  AT  TIPTON 


omitted, 
districts 
Six  of 
Reedley 


these — the  Agenda,  Clay,  Cutler,  Harrison,  Kingsburg  anc 
Districts — have  their  school  buildings  located  outside  the  bounds  of 
Tulare  County  and  are  therefore  omitted.  Seven  other  schools  espe- 
cially difficult  of  access  during  the  winter  months  were  not  reached 
by  the  investigator.  These  are  Coho,  Long  Valley,  Drum  Valley, 
Cottonwood,  Ash  Springs,  Eshom  Valley  and  Oak  Flat,  all  situated  in 
the  mountains.  They  are  also  omitted.  There  remain  108  districts, 
a  sufficiently  large  proportion  of  the  whole  number  to  give  an  adequate 
view  of  conditions.  To  these  are  added  two  church  or  parochial  schools 
in  the  country ;  one  maintained  by  the  German  Lutheran  Church,  near 
Terra  Bella;  taught  by  the  minister  of  the  church;  and  one  by  the 
Seventh  Day  Adventist  congregation  at  Venice ;  taught  by  a  hired 
teacher.  There  are  also  parochial  schools  at  Visalia  and  Dinuba,  but 
they  are  not  included. 

These  110  schools  occupied  this  year  111  buildings,  of  which  97  arc 
of  frame  construction.  11  of  brick,  3  of  cement  or  plaster;  4  of  these 
buildings  are  omitted  from  the  discussions  of  this  chapter  except  re- 
garding grounds  and  equipment  for  recreation.  Two  of  these  are 
Buena  Vista  and  Tipton,  which,  when  visited,  occupied  old  buildings 
in  poor  condition.  l)nt  which  had  new  buildings  in  course  of  construc- 
tion which  will  be  ready  for  occupancy  before  the  end  of  this  school 
year.  The  other  two  are  Alpaugh  (Avhich  shares  an  eight-room  build- 
ing with  the  High  School),  and  Orosi,  which  occupies  a  six-room  build- 
ing of  modern  construction.     Several  districts  occupying  old  buildings 

53 


SEVENTH    DAY   ADVENTIST    SCHOOL,    DINUBA 


have  since  voted  bonds  for  new  buildings,  but  are  here  included  since 
the  work  of  construction  had  not  been  commenced  when  visited.  We 
are  then  in  this  chapter  considering  107  buildings  of  104  public  school 
districts  and  two  parochial  schools.  Several  of  these  buildings  are  not 
owned  by  the  districts  using  them. 

In  these  107  buildings  there  are  160  rooms,  not  counting  libraries 
or  cloak-rooms.  137  are  regularly  used  for  school  purposes.  Of  the 
remaining  23  rooms,  several  were  built  for  auditoriums ;  the  others  for 
class-rooms,  for  which  there  is  as  yet  no  need.  15  schools  have  one 
class-room  or  more  beyond  present  needs.  74  of  the  buildings  are  one- 
room  buildings ;  23  have  two  rooms  each ;  5  have  three  rooms ;  2  have 
four,  and  3  have  five.  All  but  nine  of  the  buildings  have  at  least  one 
cloak-room  each,  the  majority  having  two.  80  of  the  buildings  have 
library  rooms.  In  some  of  the  older,  poorly  planned  buildings,  these 
libraries  are  small  and  inadequate  for  the  purpose,  often  being  mere 
closets.  Many  of  the  buildings,  however,  have  well-lighted  and  con- 
veniently arranged  library  rooms. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  group  of  buildings  erected  over  a  con- 
siderable period  of  time  and  representing  the  ideas  of  many  different 
Boards  of  Trustees  as  to  what  a  school-house  should  be  like,  would 
show  uniform  excellence  of  plan  and  equipment,  even  though  the  law 
gives  the  County  Superintendent  the  right  to  pass  upon  all  plans — a 
most  commendable  provision.  The  weak  points  in  most  rural  school 
plans  the  country  over,  and  for  that  matter  in  the  majority  of  the 
older  schools  wherever  located,  concern  the  lighting,  heating  and  ven- 
tilation— three  matters  vitally  connected  not  only  with  the  work  of  the 

54 


F-'"= 


I- 


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O   0 

Cot 


0     l— 


O    o 


//^/V 


A  ^  \\An\ja\x\oj 


SM^-e^4rt» 


^ 


55 


school  but  with  the  heahh  of  the  pupils.  A  large  majority  of  the  schools 
under  consideration  offend  at  these  three  points.  The  first  is  the  most 
important.  The  "rule  of  thumb"  for  lighting  is  that  the  window  space 
in  a  room  should  equal  at  least  one-fifth  of  the  floor  space,  and  that 
the  light  should  come  preferably  from  the  pupils  left  only  or  from  the 
left  and  rear.  Under  no  circumstances  should  there  be  a  cross-light, 
i.  e.,  from  both  right  and  left,  or  a  front  light.  The  north  light  is  the 
best  since  it  involves  the  least  glare  and  does  not  need  to  be  softened 
to  exclude  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  It  is,  of  course,  well-known 
that  these  principles  were  not  in  the  least  considered  in  the  construc- 
tion of  most  of  the  rural  schools  now  in  use  in  this  country. 

With  a  very  few  exceptions  the  school  rooms  under  consideration 
have  a  sufficient  amount  of  window  space.  It  is  the  arrangement  of 
the  windows  that  is  at  fault.  In  general  we  may  say  that  in  19  rooms 
that  lighting  is  highly  satisfactory;  in  24  or  25  others  reasonably  so. 
A  re-arrangement  of  the  seats  would  give  a  number  of  other  rooms 
satisfactory  lighting,  and  the  close  curtaining  of  certain  windows  would 
perform  a  like  service  for  others.  In  from  65  to  70  rooms  the  light- 
ing is  very  poor.  A  considerable  number  of  rooms  which  are,  in  fact, 
rather  poorly  lighted,  were  in  the  intent  of  the  architect  well  planned, 
or  could  easily  be  made  so.  For  example,  a  number  of  schools  have 
at  the  front  of  the  room  a  library  almost,  or  quite  the  width  of  the 
room,  shut  off  by  folding-doors,  or  a  wooden  curtain,  and  with  several 
large  windows,  in  many  respects  a  very  convenient  arrangement.  It 
happens,  however,  in  a  number  of  cases  that  these  doors  are  habitually 
kept  open  and  the  windows  uncurtained,  making  in  effect  a  strong 
front  light.  A  number  of  other  rooms  had  small  windows  at  the  front 
of  the  room,  placed  high ;  presumably  they  are  there  for  ventilation, 
although  since,  with  one  exception,  they  were  kept  closed  they  hardly 
fulfilled  that  function.  Such  front  light  is,  of  course,  not  very  in- 
jurious ;  at  the  same  time  it  is  not  desirable.  19  rooms  received  light 
from  the  pupils'  left  only  ;  24  others  from  left  and  rear  only.  1 1  others 
had  a  predominatingly  left  light,  with  other  windows  at  right  or  front, 
or  both.  4  rooms  had  windows  on  the  right  only,  and  5  others  a  pre- 
dominatingly right  light.  One  had  a  predominatingly  rear  light.  43 
rooms  received  light  equally  from  right  and  left ;  12  from  right,  left 
and  rear;  6  from  right,  left  and  front.     To  summarize: 

Light    from    one    side 23  rooms 

Light  from  two  sides 83  rooms 

Light   from  three   sides 27  rooms 

Light  from  four  sides 2  rooms 

135  rooms 

56 


Left  light  predominates 44  rooms 

Right   light   predominates 9  rooms 

Rear  light  predominates 1  room 

Light  equall}'  from  two  or  more  sides 81  rooms 

135  rooms 

Cross  light   (with  or  without  front  or  rear  light 67 

Front  light  (whether  or  not  contemplated  in  plan) 19 

It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  few  counties  could  show  as  high  an  aver- 
age of  well-lighted  schools.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  almost  all 
the  well-planned  buildings  have  been  erected  within  the  last  five  years. 
Few  buildings  have  been  erected  within  that  time  but  are  or  could 
easily  be  made  highly  satisfactory  in  this  regard. 

Heating  and  ventilation  are  not  serious  problems  here  for  as  many 
months  of  the  year  as  in  more  severe  climates,  but  they  are  important 
enough  to  deserve  more  attention  than  they  receive.  Very  few  of  the 
schools  have  any  adequate  method  of  heating  or  ventilation.  The  three 
usual  methods  of  heating  are,  of  course,  furnace,  jacketed  stove  or  un- 
jacketed  stove.  Either  of  the  first  two.  with  proper  installation,  is 
satisfactory,  and  the  problem  of  ventilation  can  easily  be  handled  at 
the  same  time.  The  un jacketed  stove  is  almost  never  satisfactory. 
The  item  of  expense  eliminates  the  furnace  from  consideration  in  the 
average  one-room  rural  school.  The  difference  in  cost,  however,  be- 
tween the  jacketed  and  the  unjacketed  stove  is  all  out  of  proportion 
to  the  difference  in  their  value.  A  jacketed  stove  of  correct  design, 
properly  installed,  will  heat  an  ordinarily  large  school-room  in  such  a 
way  that  the  variations  of  temperature  in  different  parts  of  the  room 


ENTERING  SCHOOL  AT  STRATIIMORE 
57 


SOUTH 


TALE   SCHOOL.   NOTE 
MENT  OF  WINDOWS 


ARRANGE- 


will  not  exceed  4  or  5  de- 
grees. The  iinjacketed 
stove,  operating  by  direct 
radiation,  can  only  heat  the 
distant  ])arts  of  the  room 
to  a  sufficient  warmth  by 
unduly  heating  the  parts 
near  to  it,  the  result  being 
that  most  of  the  room  is 
either  too  hot  or  too  cold. 
The  usual  method  of  alter- 
nately "firing  up"  and  cool- 
ing down  by  opening  the 
windows  is  obviousl}-  bad. 
Of  the  137  rooms  under 
consideration,  11  are  fur- 
nace heated;  8  are  heated  by  jacketed  stoves,  and  the  remaining  118 
by  unjacketed  stoves.  As  for  ventilation,  few  rooms  have  any  other 
method  than  by  admitting  the  air  in  direct  draughts  upon  the  children 
from  windows  or  doors,  and  by  opening  up  everything  at  recess.  In 
a  crowded  room  especially  this  is  not  adequate  or  desirable. 

Another  point  of  almost  equal  importance  concerns  the  facilities  for 
seating  the  pupils.  Most  of  the  old-fashioned,  and  many  of  the  new- 
fashioned,  school  desks  are  apparently  not  constructed  with  the  human 
form  in  mind.  It  is  particularly  true  of  those  desks  whose  height 
cannot  be  adjusted  that  almost  invariably  they  induce  the  children  to 
assume  unnatural  and  injurious  postures.  The  adjustable  desks  remedy 
the  matter  of  height,  but  are  often  not  much  more  desirable  in  shape. 
They  are,  however,  almost  always  an  improvement  for  rural  schools, 
where  one  year  may  see  a  big  proportion  of  large  children  and  the 
next  a  great  array  of  little  tots.  The  double  desk  is  not  to  be  advised 
under  any  circumstances,  its  only  advantage  being  economy  of  space. 
Out  of  137  rooms,  8  had  double  desks  only;  6  had  both  double  and 
single  desks;  123  single  desks  only.  Only  seven  rooms  had  all  ad- 
justable desks;  1  having  both  adjustable  and  non-adjustable.  There 
are  two  prevailing  methods  of  arranging  the  seats — one  is  to  arrange 
them  according  to  size  from  right  to  left,  having  the  seats  in  each 
cross  row  of  approximately  the  same  size  ;  the  other,  and  as  many  think, 
the  better  method  is  to  arrange  them  by  uniform  size  from  front  to 
rear.  The  latter  method  is  growing  in  favor.  In  some  few  schools 
there  is  no  method  of  arrangement.  In  most  of  the  rooms  the  seats 
are  placed  in  rows  which  parallel  the  sides  of  the  room.     In  one  room, 

58 


BUILDING  FOR  THE  FUTURE— $20,000  SCHOOL 
BUILDING    AT    PIXLEY 


tlie  rows  are  placed  at  an 
angle — a  most  excellent  ar- 
rangement when,  as  in  this 
case,  the  lighting  is  favor- 
able, the  light  coming  over 
the  left  shoulder  of  the 
pupil  at  a  correct  angle. 

For  general  excellence 
of  floor  plan,  such  Ijuild- 
ings  as  the  one-room  build- 
ings of  the  Navalencia, 
Mountain  Home,  Oakland 
and  Spa  Districts,  the  two- 
room      buildings      of      the 

Lewis  Creek,  Yettem,  AUensworth,  Paloma,  Liberty,  Oakdale,  Bliss 
and  Prairie  Center  Districts,  and  the  larger  buildings  of  the  Vandalia, 
Strathmore,  Tipton  and  Pixley  Districts  may  be  mentioned  as  good 
examples  of  the  better  schools  of  the  County.  They  are  not  all 
ecjually  good,  but  all  have  many  very  excellent  points.  All  but 
about  20  of  the  rooms  have  good  cjuality  blackboards  in  sufficient 
amounts.  Three-foot  boards  are  usual,  though  some  of  the 
rooms  have  four-foot  boards.  In  more  than  half  the  rooms  the  boards 
are  of  slate.  Most  of  the  others  have  hypo-plate,  cloth,  or  some  sim- 
ilar substance.  The  balance  have  boards  of  wood.  All  but  25  of  the 
schools  have  a  musical  instrument  of  some  sort ;  34  having  pianos,  49 
organs  and  3  phonographs.  All  but  4  or  5  have  globes  and  fair  maps 
and  charts.  Nearly  all  have  either  good  window  shades  or  shutters. 
\"ery  few  have  windows  and  doors  fitted  with  fly-screens,  which  is 

rather  surprising,  in  view 
of  the  number  of  flies,  1)ul 
a  considera])le  number  have 
coarse-mesh  screens  to  j)ro- 
lect  the  windows  from 
breakage  during  the  chil- 
dren's games.  AJjout  63 
schools  arc  c(|uipi)C(l  \\itli 
artificial  liglils,  \?  l»ciiig 
wired    for  clcclricily. 

Many  of  \\\r  schools  arc 
very  attracti\-e,  both  in  in- 
terior and  exterior  appear- 
TEMPORARY  SCHOOL  BUILDING  aiicc,      though      llicrc     are 

59 


■*/■'■: 


SCHOOL    PLAYGROUNDS 

60 


ELDA    SCHOOL,   AT   TOP   OF   MOUNTAIN 


enough  which  still  main- 
tain the  tradition  that  a 
rural  school  should  be  in- 
nocent of  beauty  or  adorn- 
ment. Scattered  here  and 
there  through  the  county 
one  comes  upon  buildings 
of  the  sort  that  are  to  be 
found  everywhere  in  the 
country — -East  and  West, 
North  and  South ;  dull,  un- 
attractive looking  places, 
to  which  any  lover  of 
beauty  would  hesitate  to 
sentence  a  child  for  eight 
years.      Such    schools    are 

the  Dennison,  Rural,  Chatam,  Zion,  White  River,  Goshen,  Kennedy, 
Columbine,  Elda,  Hanby,  Miles,  Hope,  Rocky  Ford,  Saucelito,  Foun- 
tain Springs,  Wheatland,  Burton — to  mention  some  of  the  worst. 
Many  of  these  have  made  some  eiTort  at  decoration,  but  the  general 
effect  is  unbeautiful.  These,  however,  are  not  in  the  majority,  while 
some  of  the  schools  are  as  attractive  as  one  could  well  ask. 

In  the  matter  of  decorations,  72  of  the  schools  have  each  one  or 
more  framed  pictures,  while  about  80  have  un  framed  pictures.  These 
pictures,  numbering  in  all  380  framed  and  about  600  unframed,  repre- 
sent all  degrees  and  sorts  of  taste ;  a  good  proportion  of  them,  it  must 
be  admitted,  possessing  very  little  artistic  merit.  A  cheap,  fly-specked 
print  of  William  McKinley,  or  of  a  horse  dodging  lightning  bolts  in 
a  meadow,  whatever  value  it  may  possess  for  instruction  in  patriotism 
or  nature  study  has  little  importance  as  a  work  of  art.  There  are  a 
good  many  pictures,  however,  of  considerable  beauty,  and  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  such  have  a  real  function  to  perform  in  a  school-room. 
The  South  Tule,  Lewis  Creek,  Taurusa,  Willow,  Packwood  and  Stone 
Corral  schools  are  particularly  worthy  of  mention  in  this  respect.  A 
number  of  schools,  about  30,  have  used  specimens  of  children's  work — 
maps,  drawings,  and  so  on — with  very  good  effect.  Work  of  this  kind, 
if  well  selected  and  mounted  with  care  on  a  cloth  or  paper  background, 
not  only  makes  an  attractive  api)earance,  but  has  considerable  edu- 
cational value.  One  school  made  use  of  pennants  very  eft'ectively  for 
decoration ;  others  had  mottoes  or  streamers  with  varying  results. 
Some  55  or  60  schools  had  potted  plants  to  the  number  of  over  300, 
while  five  had  window  boxes  or  hanging  baskets.    Of  course,  the  pick 

61 


117 

RURAL  a.^d VILLAGE  SCHOOLS 


of  all  the  decorations  in  the  world  would  not  make  a  school-room  at- 
tractive without  proper  arrangement  and  care.  Many  rather  bare 
rooms  were  neat  and  pleasant ;  others  were  cluttered  and  disordered, 
and  one  seemed  to  think  that  was  their  natural  way. 

Turning  now  to  matters  of  sanitation  and  cleanliness,  all  but  about 
10  schools  have  a  sufficient  supply  of  pure  drinking  water,  either  from 
a  well  or  spring  on  the  grounds  or  piped  in.  Six  have  "water-bubblers" 
either  in  the  building  or  on  the  grounds.  The  common  drinking  cup 
is  still  more  or  less  in  evidence.  Practically  all  the  schools  make  pro- 
vision for  personal  cleanliness  in  the  shape  of  wash-basins,  towels  and 
soap.  Six  have  running  water  in  the  cloak-rooms ;  though  one  so 
equipped  has  not  water  enough  to  permit  its  use.  The  common  or 
roller-towel,  that  prime  refuge  for  germs  of  all  kinds,  is  not  infrequently 
seen ;  the  paper  towel  has  also  made  its  appearance,  sanitary  even  if 
uncomfortable.  Seven  schools  have  toilets  in  the  building;  the  others 
have  outdoor  toilets ;  in  all  but  seven  instances  two  to  a  school.  These 
are  generally  places  at  a  sufficient  distance  from  the  main  building, 
and  about  a  third  of  them  are  screened.  The  outdoor  toilet,  except 
when  it  can  be  water-flushed,  is  seldom  entirely  sanitary.  The  general 
practise  here  seems  to  be  to  inspect  the  toilets  regularly,  and  as  a  re- 
sult most  of  them  were  found  to  be  in  a  very  fair  condition.     There 

62 


was  quite  a  noticeable  absence  of  writing  and  markings  on  the  toilet 
walls. 

As  regards  school  lots,  there  is  every  variation  from  no  land  at  all 
owned  by  the  district  to  tracts  of  five  acres  or  more.  Most  of  the 
schools  have  from  one  to  three  acres  of  land.  With  the  exception  of 
certain  schools  in  the  mountainous  sections,  these  lots  are  all  level. 
All  but  25  of  them  are  comi)letely  fenced  in.  Only  five  have  walks, 
and  in  wet  weather  considerable  mud  is  tracked  into  the  rooms.  All 
but  14  have  at  least  a  few  trees  ;  in  several  instances  the  schools  are 
set  in  the  midst  of  fine  groves.  Most  of  the  schools  aim  to  have  vege- 
table or  flower  gardens,  or  both,  where  possible.  The  conditioning 
factors  are  water  and  cows,  one  pro  and  the  other  contra.  The  remedy 
for  the  latter  is  a  good  fence.  As  for  the  former,  many  of  the  schools 
have  not  now  sufficient  water  for  irrigation,  and  find  the  task  of  carry- 
ing water  by  hand  too  arduous  to  make  gardening  pleasant  except  on 
a  small  scale.  The  tendency,  however,  is  to  provide  pumping  plants 
and  tanks,  and  many  schools  are  already  so  provided.  The  gardens, 
where  planted,  are  intended  partly  for  decoration  and  partly  for  use 
in  connection  with  nature  study. 

In  many  of  the  schools,  something  more  than  the  usual  rural  school 
provisions  for  recreation  have  been  made.  There  is  usually  a  fairly 
adecpate  playground.  52  schools  have  no  play  apparatus  at  all,  but 
the  others  are  more  or  less  well  provided,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
appended  table : 

Number  of  schools  having — 

Tennis  courts    6 

Captain-ball   courts    2 

Basket-ball  courts    38 

Giant  strides    6 

Teeters    17 

Swings     29 

Turning  bars   11 

Croquet   sets    4 

Traveling  rings    2 

With  few  exceptions,  the  teachers  superintend  the  play.  Quite  a 
number  of  schools  have  organized  baseball,  basket-ball,  or  track  teams, 
and  compete  with  neighboring  schools.  It  was  not  an  uncommon  sight 
to  see  the  teacher,  lady  or  gentleman,  behind  the  bat  or  in  the  pitching 
box  during  the  noon-hour  practise. 

The  State  law  provides  that  every  school  shall  have  a  suitable  United 
States  flag,  and  display  same  outside  of  building  while  school  is  in 
session ;  also  a  smaller  flag  for  use  in  the  school-room.  84  schools 
when  visited  were  found  complying  with  the  law  as  regards  the  flag 
outside,  or  refrained  from  doing  so  only  because  of  rain,  fog  or  an 

63 


accident  to  flag  or  pole.     26,  lacking  those  excuses,  displayed  no  flag. 
About  two-thirds  of  the  schools  have  flags  in  the  school-rooms. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  we  have  only  to  say  that  the  average  of 
these  schools  as  to  buildings,  grounds  and  equipment  is  very  high. 
Commendable  progress  is  being  made.  Definite  steps  have  already 
been  taken,  and  bonds  voted  to  supplant  some  of  the  poorest  buildings 
by  adequate  structures.  Many  of  the  newer  buildings  would  do  credit 
to  any  locality.  The  three  modern  buildings  at  \'andalia,  Tipton  and 
Pixley  represent  an  aggregate  outlay  of  more  than  $60,0(X).  While  un- 
limited expenditure,  especially  on  the  district  system,  is  not  ideal,  all 
recent  bond  issues  attest  the  readiness  of  most  sections  of  the  county 
to  sujiport  their  schools  in  fitting  fashion. 

Chapter  3 — The  Teaching  Force. 

Eliminating  the  schools  in  the  six  larger  towns,  as  before,  and  also 
in  the  joint  districts  whose  buildings  are  not  in  Tulare  County,  the 
remaining  115  public  and  2  parochial  schools  have  in  all  162  teachers, 
this  current  year.  A  division  of  the  schools  according  to  the  number 
of  teachers  employed  in  each  would  give  results  as  follows: 

One-teacher  schools    84      or     72% 

Two-teacher  schools  25       or    21% 

Three-teacher   schools    6  ] 

Four-teacher  schools    1  }    or      7% 

Six-teacher  schools   1  J 

Total   schools    117       or  100% 

The  ])reponderance  of  one-teacher  schools,  72%  of  the  whole  num- 
ber, is  another  weakness  inherent  in  the  district  system  of  organization. 
The  topography  of  the  county,  and  the  distribution  of  population, 
make  a  certain  number  of  one-teacher  schools  unavoidable.  It  will 
hardly  be  asserted,  however,  that  in  a  one-teacher  school  the  same 
efticiency  of  work  can  be  attained,  other  things  equal,  as  in  a  school 
of  two  or  more  teachers.  It  is  probably  true  that  the  system  of  "one- 
teacher  one-grade"  has  serious  drawbacks.  The  system  of  "one-teacher 
eight-grades"  is  certain  to  make  uniformly  good  work  very  difficult. 
The  schedule  is  too  crowded,  the  lesson  period  too  brief,  and  the  gen- 
eral demands  upon  the  teacher's  time  too  great.  This,  of  course,  does 
not  apply  with  equal  force  to  a  school  of  small  enrollment. 

The  data  in  the  rest  of  the  chapter  are  for  155  teachers  in  108  public 
schools  and  2  parochial  schools,  omitting  the  seven  schools  not  visited 
during  the  survey.  Of  these  155  teachers,  18  are  male,  137  are  female, 
5  of  the  men  teachers  are  in  one-teacher  schools ;  the  others  are  prin- 
cipals in  schools  of  two  or  more  teachers. 

64 


The  financial  support  accorded  the  schools  is  the  chief  reason  for 
the  high  average  of  excellence  among  the  rural  teachers  of  the  county. 
Sufficiently  large  salaries  are  paid  to  attract  college  and  normal- 
trained  men  and  women  to  the  country  schools.  They  come,  indeed, 
from  all  over  the  country,  knowing  that  the  average  salary  in  Cali- 
fornia rural  schools  is  higher  than  the  average  salary  in  town  schools 
of  the  East  and  Middle  West,  for  the  same  grade  of  work.  The  train- 
ing of  these  155  teachers  for  their  work  is  set  forth  in  the  following 
table : 

Male.  Female. 

Less  than  High  School 2 

High   School  only 2  14 

Partial  Normal  or  College  course 1  7 

Normal  course  only 7  103 

College    course    only 5  7 

Both  College  and  Normal  course 2  2 

Post-graduate   College   or   Normal 1  2 

Totals    18  137 

Eighty- four  per  cent  of  the  entire  number  are  college  or  normal  grad- 
uates. The  various  normals  of  the  state  trained  the  greater  number  of 
these,  with  the  San  Jose  normal  leading  in  the  number  of  graduates,  but 
many  eastern  normals  are  represented.  There  is  no  difference  in  this 
respect  between  the  village  and  the  open  country  schools.  Some  of  the 
most  isolated  schools  in  the  county  are  taught  by  normal  graduates. 

As  regards  the  number  of  experienced  teachers,  the  condition  is  also 
very  satisfactory.  Out  of  152  teachers,  for  whom  data  is  available, 
only  36  are  teaching  for  the  first  time  this  year.  76%  have  had  one 
year  or  more  of  teaching  experience.     The  detailed  figures  are : 


36 

or 
or 
or 
or 
or 
or 

or 

24    % 

With  1  year    previous     "                

29 

19    % 

"       2  years         "            "        

12 

8    % 

"      3      "            "           "        

14 

9   % 

"      4      "            "           "        

10 

6.5% 

"    5-9    "            "           "        

29 

19    % 

"  10-14  "            "           "        

91 

"  15-19  "            "           "        

7[ 

14.5% 

"  20  years  or  more      "        

6J 

152 

This  shows  an  unusually  high  jjroporlion  of  experienced  teachers. 
As  regards  continuity  of  service  in  .'i  single  school,  the  record  is  not 
so  favorable,  though  even  here  it  is  much  above  the  usual  rural  school 
average.  Of  153  teachers,  68  are  now  teaching  their  first  year  in  their 
present  schools,  55  arc  teaching  their  second,  14  their  third,  7  their 
fourth,  and  4  their  fifth  year;  four  have  been  in  their  present  positions 
from  six  to  ten  years ;  only  one  had  occupied  the  same  position  for 

65 


155  RURAL  AND  VILLAGE 
TEACHERS 


83t 


Complete        Part  No 

Normal  OR  COLLEGE  Course 

TRAINED  TEACHERS 

MAKE 

EFFICIENT  SCHOOLS  POSSIBLE 


eleven  years  or  more,  and  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing,  that  his  school 
shows  the  good  effects  of  the  continued  service  of  an  able  teacher.  If 
this  year  is  an  average,  these  figures  mean  that  44%  of  the  schools 
change  teachers  every  year,  and  80%  have  a  new  teacher  at  least  once 
in  two  years,  a  constant  coming  and  going  that  makes  the  highest  grade 
of  work  impossible.    Experience  has  clearly  taught  that  the  best  teach- 

66 


VARIATIONS  INf 
AVERAGE  SALARIES- RliRAL  and  VILLAGE  TEACHERS 

according  to 

YEARS  OF  YEARS  IN 

TEACHING  EXPEDIENCE  PRESENT  POSITION 

YEAKS 


$78 

1st. 

$82 

$86 

2nd. 

$91 

$90 

3kx>-  5th 

$95 

$95 

Gth. -10  th. 

$  95 

#9t 

IIth  ^OVER 

#  133 

ing,  particularly  in  rural  schools,  can  only  be  obtained  when  the  teacher 
is  permanently  domiciled  in  the  community.  The  moving  of  teachers 
isn't  altogether,  or  largely,  a  matter  of  money,  though  it  can  be  some- 
what checked  by  adopting  a  policy  of  an  annual  increase  of  salary  to  a 
competent  teacher.  Teachers  change  constantly  without  the  induce- 
ment of  an  increase  in  salary.  They  are  just  naturally  migratory,  and 
this  is  truer  of  rural  school  teachers  than  of  any  other  group.  There  is 
in  this  connection  one  factor  that  ought  not  to  be  overlooked.  A  pro- 
portion of  the  annual  vacancies  occur  through  the  permanent  retire- 
ment of  a  number  of  teachers  each  year.  A  large  majority  of  the 
teachers  are  ladies.  Among  these  are  many  who  have  seriously  elected 
teaching  as  a  profession.  There  is  another  large  class,  however,  who 
merely  "teach  while  they  wait." 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  the  average  salary  is  high,  being  more 
than  double  the  average  for  rural  schools  in  many  sections  of  the  coun- 
try. The  average  for  all  female  teachers  under  consideration  is  $86 
per  month  of  twenty  teaching  days;  for  male  teachers  it  is  $106.  The 
salaries  in  the  open  country  schools  are  on  a  i)ar  with  those  paid  in  the 
village  schools,  indeed  are  sometimes  lii.olier.  $50  is  the  lowest  salary 
paid,  and  $150  the  highest  (for  a  man  principal).  The  amount  paid 
varies  according  to  experience  and  the  number  of  years  in  the  same 

67 


position.  The  training  of  the  teacher  apparently  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  the  High  School  graduates  receiving,  as  it  happens,  on  the 
average  consideraljly  more  than  the  average  for  the  whole  number  of 
teachers.  The  variations  according  to  experience  and  length  of  service 
in  present  positions  are  indicated  below : 


-Average  Salary 


Number  Years 
Teaching  Experience 


According  to 

Number  years 
in  Present  Position. 


First  year   

Second  year  

Third  to  fifth  year 

Sixth  to  tenth   year.... 
Eleventh  year  or  more. 


$82.00 
91.00 
95.00 
95.00 

133.00* 


*  One  teacher  only. 

The  practise  of  paying  teachers  according  to  experience  may  be 
further  indicated  thus : 

Of     5   receiving  less  than  $75,     4  are  without  previous  experience. 

Of  23  receiving  less  than  $75,   13  are  without  previous  experience. 

Of  22  receiving  less  than  $80,     4  are  without  previous  experience. 

Of  34  receiving  less  than  $85,   10  are  without  previous  experience. 

Of  27  receiving  less  than  $90,     1  is  without  previous  experience. 

Of     9  receiving  less  than  $95,     1  is  without  previous  experience. 

Of  33  receiving  less  than  $100  or  more,  none  are  without  previous  experience. 

It  is,  of  course,  an  eminently  wise  policy  to  make  provision  for  ad- 
vancement. So  we  see  that  of  all  the  experienced  teachers,  more  than 
90%  are  receiving  salaries  in  excess  of  $75  a  month,  while  of  the  in- 
expeiienced  teachers  only  23%  receive  more  than  that  amount.  While 
of  those  who  are  new  this  year  to  their  present  positions  (irrespective 
of  the  number  of  years  of  their  teaching  experience)  one-third  are  re- 
ceiving $75  a  month  or  less,  wdiereas,  of  those  who  have  spent  one  or 
more  previous  years  in  their  present  positions,  more  than  95%  are  re- 
ceiving in  excess  of  that  amount. 

The  question  of  the  permanence  of  the  teaching  force  suggests  an- 
other very  important  question  which  may  be  mentioned  at  this  point, 
that  of  supervision.  One  of  the  outstanding  weaknesses  of  the  school 
system  as  organized  in  Tulare  County  is  in  the  lack  of  supervision 
accorded  the  individual  teachers,  particularly  the  rural  teachers.  The 
County  Superintendent  has  a  multitude  of  duties  to  perform,  only  one 
of  which  is  to  actually  superintend  the  schools.  The  large  number  of 
these  schools,  and  the  great  terrilorv  which  their  combined  districts 
cover,  make  the  task  of  adequate  suj^ervision  physically  impossible. 
Last  year,  75  rural  schools  were  visited  but  once  by  the  Superintend- 
ent ;  28  were  visited  twice,  and  6  three  times,  leaving  a  very  few  which 
received  anything  approaching  the  number  of  visits  which  would  make 
supervision  a  reality.    As  far  as  the  teaching  methods  are  concerned, 

68 


PERIODIC  MIGRATIONS 
3^155 

RURAL  a.ixdVlLL AGE  TEACHERS 

68         55  32 

are  tes^chiag,  tKis  ye^r 


for 
5056 


Ihe 


2T\d. 

TEAR 


3rd.  TO  11th 


IN  THEIR  PRESENT,  1914, 
SCHOOLS 


this  is  inspection,  not  supervision.  To  be  sure,  most  of  the  teachers 
are  well  trained,  and  most  of  them  are  competent.  But  many  are 
young  and  inexperienced,  while  others,  capable  enough  with  proper 
direction,  lack  both  the  initiative  and  the  independent  judgment  to  be 
really  good  teachers  without  supervision.    That  much  was  patent  even 

69 


from  the  casual  hearing  of  recitations  that  came  with  the  work  of  the 
survey.  The  point  requires  no  argument.  Efforts  are  now  being  made 
in  the  State  Legislature  to  remedy  this  defect  in  the  elementary  school 
system. 

Chapter  4— The  Pupils. 

The  material  of  this  section  is  for  115  public  and  2  parochial  schools. 
The  figures  on  enrollment  and  attendance,  having  been  secured  at  va- 
rious times  from  October  to  April,  will  doubtless  show  some  variation 
from  the  figures  for  the  entire  year,  but  not  enough  to  affect  their 
value.  The  total  enrollment  for  these  schools  is  3,989,  of  whom  2,056, 
or  51.5%,  are  boys;  1,933  are  girls.  The  average  daily  attendance  is 
3,539,  88.7%  of  the  enrollment,  a  very  creditable  record  when  it  is 
considered  that  many  children  have  a  considerable  distance  to  travel 
over  wretched  roads,  and  that  several  schools  were  seriously  affected 
by  epidemics  of  scarlet  fever  during  the  winter.  The  enrollment  by 
grades  presents  some  interesting  points : 


Boys. 

Girl 

s. 

Grade. 

Number. 

%  of  Whole 

Number. 

%  of  Whole 

1 

385 

18.8 

340 

17.9 

2 

266 

12.9 

255 

13.1 

3 

288 

14.1 

274 

14.1 

4 

232 

11.3 

i             226 

11.6 

5 

269 

13.0 

239 

12.3 

6 

225 

10.9 

218 

11.2 

7 

190 

9.2 

191 

9.9 

8 

201 

9.8 

190 

9.9 

These  percentages  are  set  forth  graphically  in  the  diagram  on  page 
71.  The  remarkable  thing  about  these  figures  is  the  relative  uniformity 
of  the  percentage  curve  for  both  sexes  throughout  the  eight  grades. 
In  most  statistics  on  rural  school  enrollment  we  notice  a  sharp  break 
downward  in  the  curve  after  the  third  or  fourth  grade  for  the  boys, 
and  another  sharp  break  after  the  fifth  or  sixth  grade  for  both  sexes. 
Here  the  only  serious  decline  in  enrollment  comes  after  the  fifth 
grade,  and  even  here  the  degree  is  not  great.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  boys,  as  well  as  of  the  girls,  are  held  for  the  entire  eight-grade 
course.    All  but  four  of  these  schools  are  in  session  for  nine  months. 

Schools  having  an  enrollment  of  25  or  more  have  the  larger  propor- 
tion of  the  children,  but  a  considerable  number  of  the  schools  are  main- 
tained with  too  few  pupils  for  maximum  efticiency  of  work.  Small 
enrollment  means  small  classes  lacking  entirely  the  stimulus  of  num- 
bers, many  grades  with  but  one  pupil,  and  a  limited  opportunity  for 
school  activities  of  many  sorts.    This  is,  of  course,  also  the  reason  why 

70 


^0  PROPORTION  of  PUPILS  m  EACH  GRADE  ^/o 

20 1 \ \ 1 \ 1 \ \ 1 f^O 


--15 


GRADE     I 


n    m    w 

-BOYS 


^    W    Ml  GRADE 
gIrls 


thfe  better  equipped  and  more  efficient  town  schools  are  maintained  at 
a  smaller  per  capita  expense  than  the  rural  schools  with  fewer  advan- 
tages. The  small  school  is  an  expensive  school.  The  number  of  small 
schools  may  be  indicated  by  the  following  table : 

10  or  less 15 

11-15  20 

16-20  19 

21-30  24 

31-50  19 

51  and  over 20 

117 

Nearly  a  third  of  the  schools  have  an  average  attendance  of  15  or 
less.  In  the  whole  number  of  schools  there  are  108  instances  of  grades 
containing  but  a  single  pupil  each.  Combinations  of  grades  can  easily 
be  made  in  teaching  some  subjects  to  avoid  small  classes,  but  this  is 
not  done  nearly  as  much  as  it  might  be. 
Chapter  5 — Miscellaneous. 

The  course  of  study  presents  little  that  requires  comment  here.  The 
schools  are  carefully  graded,  and  a  well-balanced  course  of  study  is 
prescribed.  There  is  little  attempt  to  teach  "special"  subjects,  which, 
under  the  circumstances,  is  just  as  well,  the  facilities  being  inadequate 
and  the  work  heavy  enough  for  an  average  teacher.  "Nature  study" 
is  usually  incidental  to  the  work  in  language  and  geography.  Some- 
thing is  attempted  in  connection  with  the  school  gardens.  Three  or 
four  schools  give  regular  periods  to  elementary  agriculture.  A  little 
work  is  done  with  rafia  in  several  schools,  but  only  one  school  has  any 
definite  work  in  manual  training  or  domestic  science.  The  Windsor 
School,  in  the  Reedley  High  School  District,  has  a  special  teacher  in 
domestic  science  one  hour  a  week  for  the  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth 

71 


grade  girls.  The  boys  of 
the  same  grades  go  to 
Reedley  for  one  hour's  in- 
struclion  eacli  week  in 
manual  training.  Most 
schools  where  there  is  a 
musical  instrument  or  a 
musical  teacher,  or  both, 
devote  some  regular  time 
to  school  singing.  A  num- 
ber have  systematic  note 
drill.  Woodlake  School  is 
probably  doing  the  best 
work  in  this  respect.  It  is 
usual  to  devote  one  hour  a 
week  to  drawing,  and  many 
of  the  schools  do  very 
good  work  in  this  subject. 
The  regular  library  fund 
gives  each  school  an  oppor- 
tunity to  amass  a  very  considerable  library.  The  115  schools  under  con- 
sideration had  in  all  78,581  volumes  in  their  libraries  at  the  close  of  last 
year.  The  books  are  often  a  rather  haphazard  collection,  though  the 
fact  that  the  selections  must  be  made  from  an  accredited  list  keeps  them 
within  reasonable  bounds.  17  schools  have  libraries  of  over  a  thousand 
volumes  each,  and  47  others  have  more  than  500  volumes.     An  ar- 


WATCIIFUL  WAITING 


illll^^^^^^^^^^^l  H 1  BiBMI 

m. 

HS"*"'""^^*'^^"^ ''^aSP^i^K 

■™      ^       -'^^s^mim  •'  ^^iAtb 

GRAMMAR   SCHOOL  TRANSPORTATION 


72 


rangement  has  recently  been  authorized  whereby  a  school  can,  if  it 
desires,  turn  its  annual  library  money  over  to  the  County  Library  and 
receive  in  return  the  full  privileges  of  that  institution.  A  number  of 
schools  have  already  taken  advantage  of  that  provision.  A  consider- 
able number  of  schools  are  also  regular  County  Library  Stations.  In 
many  communities  considerable  use  is  made  of  the  school  libraries  by 
the  people  of  the  district. 

Every  public  school  in  California  is  potentially  and  theoretically  a 
social  and  civic  center.  A  State  law  approved  in  1913  provides  that, 
"There  is  hereby,  etc."  (See  School  Law,  page  78.)  From  the  en- 
actment of  the  law  to  the  realization  of  the  contemplated  result  is  a 
long  step  which  has  not  yet  been  taken.  Most  of  the  schools  which 
have  sufficient  pupils  do  indeed  aim  to  give  several  public  entertain- 
ments during  the  year  which  are  generally  well  attended.  The  move- 
ment is  also  well  started  to  make  broader  use  of  the  school  buildings. 
51  of  the  schools  surveyed  reported  no  use  of  the  buildings  for  other 
than  school  purposes  (except  possibly  for  elections).  Others,  however, 
are  variously  used  for  Sunday  School,  church  services,  club  meetings, 
dances,  political  rallies,  and  similar  gatherings.  Doubtless,  if  more  of 
the  teachers  lived  in  the  communities  where  they  teach,  and  held  their 
positions  for  a  longer  term  of  years,  and  were  so  minded  they  could 
greatly  extend  this  general  community  use  of  the  school  plant,  and 
thereby  bring  the  community  and  the  school  much  closer  together.  In- 
cidentally, they  would  help  solve  the  vexing  social  problem  of  the  aver- 
age rural  community. 

At  various  points  in  this  discussion  we  have  mentioned  the  advisa- 
bility of  consolidating  some  of  the  district  schools.  One  qualification 
should  be  made.  Some  of  the  districts,  as  at  present  laid  out,  are  al- 
most, or  quite,  as  large  as  ordinary  consolidated  districts.  Their  size 
is  made  necessary  by  the  sparse  population.  If,  as  they  are  settled  up, 
transportation  of  pupils  were  provided  (as  has  in  one  or  two  cases 
been  attempted),  and  the  district  kept  intact,  there  would  be  in  effect 
a  centralized  school.  In  actual  practise,  the  habit  is  to  continually 
carve  new  districts  out  of  these  old  ones  as  soon  as  a  sufficient  number 
of  families  are  located  near  one  spot  to  legally  establish  a  school.  It 
would  be  to  the  ultimate  interests  of  all  concerned  to  greatly  curtail 
this  practise.  But  there  again  the  "boom"  spirit  of  a  new  country 
crops  out.  How  can  one  community  grow  properly,  if  its  neighbor 
has  the  school? 

Chapter  6 — High  Schools. 

No  detailed  study  of  the  I  ligh  Schools  of  the  County  was  made,  and 
it  is  not  intended  to  include  here  more  than  the  barest  outline  of  the 

7Z 


DINUBA   HIGH   SCHOOL 

secondary  school  situation.  There  are  nine  High  Schools  within  the 
borders  of  the  County — at  Alpaugh,  Tulare,  Dinuba,  Orosi,  Woodlake, 
Exeter,  Lindsay  and  Porterville,  and  three  others  just  over  the  County 
line — at  Delano,  Kingsburg  and  Reedley.  The  oldest  of  these  was 
established  in  1891 ;  the  youngest  in  1914.  The  total  enrollment  in 
1913-14  of  pupils  from  this  county  was  :  1,368 — 612  boys  and  756  girls. 
The  High  Schools  are  supported  partly  by  the  State  and  partly  by  the 
district.  The  district  may  either  be  co-extensive  with  an  elementary 
school  district,  as  is  the  case  with  Alpaugh,  Tulare,  Visalia  and  Lind- 
say, or  a  union  of  several  such  districts.     In  1913-14,  their  combined 


PORTERVILLE    HIGH    SCHOOL 

74 


income  from  all  sources  was  $161,257.97,  and  their  total  disbursements, 
$133,230.16.  They  employed  31  men  and  43  women  teachers.  Their 
equipment  has  an  aggregate  value  of  about  $300,000.  llie  weak  point 
in  the  financial  system  is  in  the  small  portion  of  the  county  that  has  to 
bear  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  High  Schools  that  all  use.  Pupils 
from  districts  not  belonging  to  a  High  School  Union  may  attend  any 
High  School,  and  their  districts  are  assessed  at  the  pro  rata  cost  of 
instruction  only,  leaving  the  whole  burden  of  maintenance  and  equip- 
ment to  be  borne  by  the  High  School  District.  While  several  of  the 
schools  are  small  and  relatively  weak,  work  of  high  grade  is  done  in 
all.  The  courses  are  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  communities. 
Agriculture  and  the  usual  courses  in  domestic  science  and  manual 
training  are  taught  in  all  but  two.  There  are  many  special  features 
which  would  merit  extended  treatment  did  our  space  warrant  it. 


75 


TUL^U^JE  CO.  gOlnlOOLB. 
resifiSKio  CO. 


7^ 


PART  V. 

RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS. 

Chapter  1 — Number,  Kind  and  Distribution  o£  Religious  Organ- 
izations and  Their  Material  Equipment. 

The  church  problem  inevitably  takes  its  form  from  the  economic, 
social  and  allied  problems  of  the  country,  a  truism  which  must  con- 
stantly be  borne  in  mind  for  the  proper  understanding  of  our  present 
subject.  What  would  be  weakness  in  one  community  may  well  be  a 
sign  of  strength  and  of  promise  for  the  future  in  a  community  of  an- 
other sort.  The  bare,  unrelieved  facts  regarding  the  religious  situation 
in  Tulare  County  would  be  disheartening  enough  were  it  not  that  we 
are  here  dealing  with  a  new  and  somewhat  complex  situation.  The  orig- 
inal settlers  of  this  country  were  not  in  the  main  religious  people,  and 
pioneer  soil  is  proverbially  difficult  for  religious  organizations  to  take 
root  in.  To  a  certain  extent  pioneer  conditions  still  prevail.  There  are 
large  tracts  still  very  sparsely  settled ;  there  are  many  communities 
new  within  a  few  years  and  others  but  just  born.  The  whole  county 
is  still  in  the  throes  of  its  growing  pains.  Population  is  rapidly  in- 
creasing, and  is  composite  of  many  strains.  There  is  much  coming 
and  going  of  settlers  and  might-be  settlers.  The  great  economic  de- 
velopment of  the  last  fifteen  years  is  still  in  process.  The  life  of  the 
average  community  has  not  yet  had  time  to  crystallize  in  institutions. 
These  and  other  similar  conditions,  whose  effects  are  clearly  seen  in 
the  general  social  and  cultural  life,  and  would  doubtless  be  seen  in 
the  schools  were  it  not  for  the  highly  efficient  state  system,  are  un- 
mistakably reflected  in  the  status  of  the  religious  institutions,  the  most 
voluntary  and  sensitive  of  all  social  institutions.  In  general,  the  re- 
ligious problem  is  two-fold.  There  is  the  problem  of  evangelization, 
/.  e.,  of  occupying  those  sections  of  the  county  where  there  is  now  no 
definite  or  adequate  religious  work,  including  those  sections  which  are 
not  now,  but  may  in  future  become  sufficiently  populous  to  support 
church  organizations.  There  is  also  the  problem  of  the  more  efficient 
cultivation  of  those  fields  already  occupied,  together  with  such  re- 
adjustments as  may  be  necessary  to  keep  pace  with  the  needs  of  a 
growing  population.  The  discussion  of  just  what  form  these  problems 
take,  and  what  their  solutions  may  be,  we  will  reserve  until  after  the 
detailed  facts  of  the  religious  situation  have  been  reviewed. 

77 


Twenty-seven  denominations  claimino-  the  general  name  Christian 
and  one  non-Christian  organization  maintain  rehgious  work  in  the 
County.  Perhaps  a  dozen  other  denominations  are  represented  by  a 
scattered  membership,  but  are  without  local  organization  or  regular 
meeting.  The  total  number  of  organizations,  missions,  preaching 
points  and  unorganized  meetings  of  the  various  "Christian"  denomina- 
tions is  108.  92  of  these  are  regularly  organized  (though  not  all  are 
legally  incorporated.)  Of  the  total  number,  61  are  located  in  the  six 
larger  towns  of  the  county,  19  in  the  various  villages,  and  28  in  the 
country.  Reference  to  the  church  map,  page  105,  and  to  the  subjoined 
tables,  pages  106  and  107,  will  indicate  their  respective  locations.  There 
are,  in  addition,  a  number  of  union  or  denominational  Sunday  Schools 
wdiere  no  regular  church  services  are  held,  but  these  will  be  considered 
under  another  head,  the  names  merely  being  appended  here : 

Sunday  Schools  (without  church  organization  or  regular  church 
service) — all  in  country: 

1.  Worth  Public  School  District. 

2.  Badger   (Eshom  Valley  District). 

3.  Kennedy  District. 

4.  Lewis  Creek  District. 

5.  Spa  District. 

6.  Stoil  District. 

7.  Angiola  District. 

8.  Taurusa  District. 

9.  Hot  Springs  District  (Summer  only). 

10.  Allensworth  District  (Negro  only). 

11.  Three  Rivers  District. 

12.  Walnut  Grove  District. 

There  is  also  an  organization  of  the  Salvation  Army  at  Visalia. 

Summary. 

Total  number  of  Christian  organizations 92 

Unorganized  meetings  and  preaching  points 16 

—  Total  108 
In   towns 61 

In    villages 19 

In    country 28 

—  Total  108 
Sunday  Schools  without  Church  Service 12 

The  term  "pastor"  in  the  taljles  (pp.  106-107),  is  taken  as  referring 
to  a  regularly  designated  minister  residing  in  the  immediate  parish, 
without  reference  to  his  ordination  or  installation,  as  in  the  usage  of 

78 


some  denominations.  In  like  manner  the  term  "non-resident"  supply 
designates  a  minister  regularly  serving  a  church  but  not  residing  in 
its  immediate  environs.  The  terms  "local  elder"  or  "local  preacher" 
refer  to  a  man  having  some  other  primary  occupation  than  the  min- 
istry, who,  while  residing  in  the  community,  serves  a  church  as  its 
minister  without  salary.  There  are  abandoned  churches  or  organiza- 
tions not  included  in  the  above  tables  at  Monson  (near  Dinuba),  Farm- 
ersville,  Piano,  and  Springville.  Sunday  Schools  no  longer  in  exist- 
ence have  in  the  past  been  maintained  at  Fountain  Springs,  Liberty, 
Enterprise,  Artesia  and  Lake  View  School  Districts. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  distribution  of  the  fields  of  religious  work 
shows  the  usual  overlapping  by  the  different  denominations  that  is 
almost  invariably  the  feature  of  Protestant  religious  effort  in  this 
country.  At  least  a  third,  and  possibly  more,  of  the  existing  organiza- 
tions are  not  needed,  and  have  at  best  a  very  restricted  field  of  work. 
Unnecessary  duplication  of  organizations  means  impaired  efficiency  at 
a  higher  cost,  both  for  equipment  and  maintenance.  This  is  the  con- 
dition especially  in  the  towns  and  villages ;  the  newness  of  most  of  the 
rural  communities  has  prevented  as  much  duplication  there,  while  it 
is  often  the  very  newness  of  the  village  communities  that  fosters  de- 
nominational rivalry,  various  denominations  seeming  to  take  the  posi- 
tion that  it  is  permissible  to  cripple  present  religious  work  in  order 
to  establish  their  particular  brand  of  religion  in  a  locality  which  has 
promise  of  growth.  The  short-sightedness  of  this  policy,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  Christianity  as  a  whole,  should  be  obvious  since  weak 
churches,  with  scattered  energies,  seldom  lay  firm  foundations  for 
future  building.  The  only  unrestricted  fields  for  Protestant  work  in 
the  towns  are  with  the  various  foreign  groups,  the  missions  for  Portu- 
guese, Japanese  and  Koreans  and  the  self-supporting  German  con- 
gregations. Eight  of  the  nineteen  village  churches  have  "free"  fields. 
In  the  twenty-five  country  districts  where  religious  work  is  carried  on, 
there  is  overlapping  of  Protestant  denominations  in  only  three.  A  few 
instances  may  be  cited  here,  and  the  point  will  be  referred  to  again 
later.  Orosi  has  had  for  many  years  three  denominations  at  work  in 
a  field  which  would  much  more  adecjuately  support  a  single  church. 
Alpaugh,  which  had  at  first  a  Union  church,  now  has  a  Lutheran  and 
a  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  each  recjuiring  Home  Mission  aid. 
There  were  no  conditions  to  justify  the  organization  of  a  second  church 
in  Strathmore,  Woodlake,  Farmersville,  Waukena,  Si)ringville  and 
Ducor,  and  except  in  Springville,  where  the  organization,  first  in  the 
field,  has  since  given  the  field  over  to  the  newcomer,  the  maintenance 
of  a  second  church  in  each  community  can  be  justified  only  on  de- 

-        79 


THE  PEOPLE  AND  THE  CHURCH 

OF  THE  Non-Catholic  Population 
Residing  in 


tona/ns 


villages 


17.^% 


6.9% 


COUNTRY 


162% 


ARE  CHURCH  MEMBERS 


nominational  grounds.  Such  problems  cannot,  of  course,  be  settled 
out  of  hand,  and  we  have  no  disposition  to  be  doctrinaire  in  the  matter. 
But  the  future,  particularly  in  smaller  settlements,  so  obviously  belongs 
to  the  community  church,  of  whatever  denomination,  that  the  larger 
questions  of  comity  involved  deserve  most  careful  consideration. 

That  this  problem  is  still  urgent  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
the  number  of  organizations  formed,  or  preaching  points  established 
within  the  last  five  years,  is  47,  and  that  32  of  these  were  in  localities 
where  Protestant  work  was  already  being  carried  on,  and  the  new 
organizations  were,  without  exception,  unnecessary.  This  practise  has 
not,  however,  been  confined  to  the  last  five  years,  by  any  means,  and, 
as  previously  practised,  has  left  a  legacy  of  many  unnecessarily  weak 
churches.  There  is  one  interesting  sidelight  on  this  situation.  The 
most  striking  point  aljout  recent  church  development  is  the  rapid  in- 
crease of  the  number  of  churches  of  such  dissenting  denominations 
as  the  Pentecostal  Church  of  the  Nazarene,  the  Apostolic  Ploliness 
Union,  the  Church  of  God  Come-Outers,  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists, 
and  the  Church  of  the  Millenial  Dawn,  which  last  has  several  scattered 
groups  of  adherents  without  local  organization.  These  all  primarily 
make  their  appeal  to  the  poor,  the  dissatisfied  and  the  previously  un- 
churched, and  are  distinguished  the  country  over  by  their  ability  to 
take  root  in  their  soil  and  survive  where  other  churches  languish.  They 

80 


-  ^  I   IT  IT 


II  II  .ir 


''  1     f^  "^ 


M.  E.  CHURCH,  TULARE 

are  seldom  strong  churches,  either  financially  or  numerically,  but  their 
persistence  in  small  communities  is  almost  invariably  a  sign  of  the 
failure  of  the  "regular"  denominations  to  cope  with  the  situation. 

Throughout  the  remainder  of  this  discussion,  except  where  other- 
wise stated,  the  data  presented  will  be  based  on  a  study  of  95  of  the 
entire  109  churches  and  meetings.  The  reasons  for  the  14  omissions 
are  as  follows :  the  Buddhist  temple  was  omitted  to  confine  the  study 
to  Christian  organizations ;  since  complete  information  could  be  ob- 
tained for  only  one  of  the  four  Catholic  churches,  these  four,  and  also 
the  Gregorian  Armenian  congregation  at  Yettem  and  the  organization 
of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  at  Tulare  are  omitted,  leaving  only  Protestant 
organizations.  Information  was  also  not  secured  concerning  the  five 
Christian  Science  and  the  two  United  Brethren  groups.  The  95  re- 
maining are  divided  as  follows:  51  are  in  towns,  17  in  villages,  and 
27  in  the  country.  The  Salvation  xA.rmy  is  considered  only  in  the 
Sunday  School  discussion. 

The  95  organizations  and  meetings  have  at  the  present  time  74 
church  buildings,  34  parsonages  (2  other  churches  are  attached  to 
circuits  having  parsonages  located  in  other  counties),  and  four  sep- 
arate parish  houses  or  social  halls,  representing  a  total  valuation  of  a 
little  under  $500,000.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  by  far  the 
largest  amount  of  any  denomination  invested  in  church  equipment, 
with  the  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Methodist  Episcopal  South  and  Con- 
gregationalists  following  in  the  order  named.  Nearly  half  of  the 
church  buildings — 33  to  be  exact — have  been  erected  within  the  last 
five  years,  representing  an  investment  during  that  period  of  between 

81 


one  hundred  and  eighty  and  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  new 
buildings  are,  in  general,  much  better  planned  for  church  purposes  than 
the  older  ones,  though  many  buildings,  both  old  and  new,  show  that 
they  were  conceived  merely  as  auditoriums  for  preaching  rather  than 
as  centers ;  also  for  social  and  educational  activities. 

The  appended  table  will  give  an  idea  of  the  average  value  of  the 
church  edifices : 


All  Buildings. 

Valued  at. 

Buildings  Erected  Within 
Last  Five  Years. 

17 
14 
19 

IS 

7 
2 

$1,000  or  less 

1,001-2,000 

2,001-5,000 

5,001-10,000 

10,001-20,000 

20,001  or  over 

4 
9 

11 
4 
4 

1 

74 
$5,210 

Total                                                33 
Average  value                                   $5,400 

In  the  same  manner  the  number  of  rooms  available  for  church  purposes  may 
be  indicated : 


All  Buildings. 

Buildings  With 

Buildings  Erected  Within 
Last  Five  Years. 

27 
9 

23 
8 

7 

1  room 

2  rooms 

3-  5  rooms 
6-10  rooms 
11  or  more  rooms 

14 
3 
8 
4 
4 

74 
306 

Total  number  rooms 

33 
143 

The  two  best  buildings  in  the  county  are  probably  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  at  Tulare  and  the  Congregational  Church  at  Porter- 
ville.  For  strictly  religious  activities,  the  former  is  the  better ;  for 
general  social  activities,  the  latter.  This  building,  however,  has  been 
something  of  a  white  elephant.  It  was  erected  some  eight  years  ago 
as  a  social  center,  and  splendidly  equipped  with  club  rooms,  gym- 
nasium, swimming  tank,  locker  rooms,  etc.  Its  maintenance  has  been 
a  great  financial  drain,  and  the  congregation  has  never  been  able  to 
realize  its  ambitions  for  an  institutional  church.  Other  buildings 
worthy  of  mention,  for  plan  antl  equipment,  are  the  Presbyterian, 
Methodist  Episcopal  and  Episcopal  buildings  in  Yisalia ;  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  South  building  in  Dinuba ;  the  Presbyterian  and  Methodist 
Episcopal  South  buildings  in  Exeter ;  the  Methodist  Episcopal  building 
in  Porterville ;  the  Baptist  and  IMethodist  Episcopal  buildings  in  Lind- 
say ;  and  among  the  country  and  villages  churches,  the  two  buildings  at 

82 


M.    E.   CHURCH,   LINDSAY 

Alpaugh,  the  Brethren  Church  near  Strathmore,  and  the  Mennonite 
Church  west  of  Dinuba. 

The  parsonages  range  in  value  from  $600.00  to  $5,000.00,  the  aver- 
age being  about  $2,100.  In  general,  they  compare  favorably  with  the 
average  of  the  less  pretentious  homes  in  their  communities.  The  fact 
that  less  than  half  of  the  ministers  at  w^ork  in  the  county  are  provided 
with  parsonages  is  somewhat  of  a  handicap,  since  in  most  sections 
desirable  renting  properties  are  scarce  and  rents  are  high. 

In  general,  rather  insufficient  care  is  taken  of  the  church  buildings 
and  grounds,  and  the  appearance  of  many  an  otherwise  passable  build- 
ing is  spoiled  by  neglect  and  by  an  untidy  church  lot.  There  are,  of 
course,  some  very  happy  exceptions  to  this  rule. 

The  seating  capacity  of  the  various  church  auditoriums  varies  from 
60  to  1,000,  the  majority  seating  from  150  to  200.  The  total  seating 
capacity  of  the  town  churches  is  11,650;  of  the  village  churches,  2,780, 
and  of  the  country  churches,  2,330,  an  aggregate  of  16,760,  which  is 
considerably  in  excess  of  the  number  that  they  are  called  upon  to  seat 
at  any  given  time. 

Chapter  2 — Membership  and  Growth. 

The  membership  of  the  local  churches  is  not  an  altogether  satis- 
factory index  to  the  strength  of  the  religious  forces  of  the  county. 
Here,  far  more  than  in  older  settled  sections,  there  are  many  people 
who,  prior  to  their  settlement  here,  were  church  members,  but  who 
have  never  united  with  local  churches.     Some  of  them  help  support 

83 


the  local  churches ;  many  do  not.  Just  how  many  people  there  are  in 
the  county  who  have  church  letters  stored  in  the  bottoms  of  their 
trunks,  or  whose  names  are  still  on  the  roster  of  some  church  "back 
east,"  it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  there  are  doubtless  a  good  many. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  membership  rolls  of  many  local  churches  con- 
tain names  of  former  residents  who  have  never  asked  for  their  letters. 
The  practise  of  churches  in  regard  to  such  names  varies.  Some 
churches  carry  them  indefinitely,  while  others  revise  their  rolls  an- 
nually. In  figuring  the  membership,  care  was  taken  to  get  only  the 
living,  resident  and  active,  membership.  Those  who  had  moved  away, 
or  who,  without  moving,  had  completely  lost  interest,  were  not  counted. 
This  will  cause  some  variation  between  the  figures  here  presented  and 
those  appearing  in  the  various  denominational  year-books.  It  is  be- 
lieved, however,  that  the  figures  given  here  are  substantially  correct. 
In  case  where  there  was  no  actual  organization,  but  a  definite  and 
recognizable  group  of  people  banded  together  for  regular  worship, 
their  number  was  included.  It  should  be  remembered  that  not  all  of 
the  95  centers  of  Protestant  work  which  we  are  here  considering  have 
either  an  organization  or  a  definite  clientele,  while  others  have  an 
organization  in  common  with  some  larger  center  of  work.  86  organi- 
zations, or  definite  groups,  are  here  recognized  and  counted. 

The  total  membership  of  these  86  organizations  is  7,425.  Of  these 
the  town  churches  have  5,889,  an  average  of  120  to  a  church;  the  vil- 
lage churches  have  76S,  an  average  of  45 ;  the  country  churches  have 
also  768,  an  average  of  38.  Many  country  residents  are  represented 
in  the  membership  of  town  and  village  churches.  The  total  member- 
ship, according  to  residence,  would  give  town  members  3,359;  village 
members,  240;  country  members,  3,826.  The  total  non-Catholic  popu- 
lation of  the  county,  as  nearly  as  it  can  be  estimated,  is  approximately 
45,000-46,000.  Just  about  16%  of  the  total  non-Catholic  population, 
therefore,  is  represented  in  the  church  membership,  which  is  certainly 
a  low  proportion.  The  towns  and  the  country  show  about  the  same 
proportion;  the  villages  a  much  lower  proportion.  About  17.4%  of 
the  non-Catholics  in  the  towns  are  Protestant  Church  members ;  about 
6.9%  in  the  villages,  and  16.2%  in  the  country.  The  village  is  ap- 
parently the  difficult  field — a  condition  possibly  to  be  attributed  to  the 
denominational  over-lapping  which  has  so  undermined  the  strength 
of  the  village  churches. 

There  are  many  small  churches,  ineffectual  because  of  very  poverty 
of  numbers,  a  condition  excusable  except  where  the  church  forces 
have  been  unnecessarily  divided.  71%  of  all  the  churches,  and  all  but 
one  of  the  village  and  country  churches,  have  less  than  a  hundred 

84 


members  each.    Exactly  half  of  the  churches  have  less  than  fifty  mem- 
bers each.     The  detailed  figures  are  suggestive: 


Churches  With  an  Active 
Membership    of — 

10  or  less 

11-20 

21-50 

51-75 

76-100 

101-150 

151-200 

201    or    more 


Town. 


2 

1         1 

3 

3 

12 

6 

5 

4        1 

3 

2 

9 

1 

4 

11 

49 

17 

Village.       Country. 


20 


Total. 

3 

13 
27 
11 

7 
10 

4 
11 

86 


The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  members  attached  to  the 
churches  in  the  various  towns ;  also  the  number  of  local  church  mem- 
bers actually  resident  in  each : 


Name  of   Town. 

Total  Active  Membership 
All  Protestant  Churches. 

Number  of  Active 
Members  Resident. 

Visalia    

1,093 

1,408 

791 

561 

860 

1,176 

739 

Dinuba    

795 

Tulare     

Exeter    

464 
327 

Porterville    

Lindsay    

497 
507 

Dinuba  is  the  best  church  town,  both  in  the  proportion  of  the  town 
people  who  belong  to  the  churches  and  in  the  number  of  country  people 
attached  to  the  town  churches. 

Five  denominations  have  the  largest  part  of  the  total  Protestant 
membership — the  Methodist  Episcopal,  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  South  and  Disciples  of  Christ,  their  numerical  strength 
being  in  the  order  named.  The  Baptists  are  making  by  far  the  most 
rapid  growth  for  the  county  as  a  whole.  The  United  States  Religious 
Census  of  1906  may  be  cited  here  to  show  the  total  growth  for  the  last 
nine  years,  and  the  relative  degrees  of  growth  of  the  various  de- 
nominations. 

All  Protestant  Bodies  except  Church  of  Christ,  Scientist. 


Membership 
1906. 

1915. 

7,425 

1,793 
797 

1,404 
200 
711 
986 

1,534 

Net  Gain, 
Nine  Years. 

4,189 

987 

205 

991 
75 

179 

514 
1,038 

%  of  Gain. 

All  others   

Total  

125 
532 
472 
496 
3,236 
806 
592 
413 

129 
122 

M.  E 

M.  E.  S 

Baptist    

36 

240 

60 

Protestant  Episcopal    .  .  . 

Disciples  of  Christ   

Presbyterians    

33 
108 
209 

85 


VARIATIONS  IN  CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP 

for  Churches  in 


TOWNS 


so  MEMBERS 
OR  LESS 


VILLAGES 


51  -  too 

MEMBERS 


COUNTRY 


»01  MEMBERS 
OR  MORE 


Not  more  than  fifteen  church  organizations  show  a  net  loss  for  this 
period.  But  many  show  a  relative  loss  in  proportion  to  the  population, 
which  has  almost  doubled  since  1906.  The  total  membership  for  the 
county,  however,  has  gained  on  the  population  somewhat.  The  figures 
for  1906  not  being  itemized,  except  by  denominations,  it  is  not  possible 
to  analyze  the  changes  according  to  localities. 

The  total  church  membership  is  drawn  from  3,558  different  families, 
which  means  that  something  like  35-40%  of  all  the  non-Catholic  fam- 
ilies in  the  county  are  represented.  It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that 
these  families  average  only  a  little  over  two  members  from  each  fam- 
ily. The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South  is  the  only  denomination 
that  shows  an  appreciably  higher  average  than  that.  Their  six 
churches  show  an  average  of  a  little  less  than  three  members  for  each 
family  represented.  The  generally  low  average  is  due  in  part  to  the 
relatively  small  number  of  men  in  the  church  membership.  The 
Brethren  Church,  near  Strathmore,  has  an  unusual  record  in  this  re- 
spect. In  every  family  represented  in  the  membership,  save  one,  both 
husband  and  wife  are  members,  and  25%  of  the  total  membership  are 
under  21  years  of  age. 

For  the  county  as  a  whole  the  feminine  contingent  forms  practically 
60%  of  the  entire  membership.  The  proportion  varies  somewhat  in 
the  different  denominations  and  localities,  but  for  no  very  apparent 
reason.  The  proportion  of  young  people  (under  21  years  of  age)  in 
the  membership  varies  from  13%  to  28%,  being  a  little  less  than  24% 

86 


for  the  county.  It  is  considerably  higher  in  the  country  and  village 
churches  than  in  the  town  churches.  There  are  ten  churches  with 
practically  no  young  people  at  all.  Speaking  generally,  the  churches 
which  have  large  numbers  of  young  people  are  the  churches  with  well- 
organized,  efficient  Sunday  Schools.  Indeed,  the  Sunday  School,  prop- 
erly conducted,  is  the  only  really  efficient  method  of  holding  young 
people  in  the  church.  Three  classes  of  churches  have  very  few  young 
people — churches  with  haphazard,  poorly-organized  Sunday  Schools ; 
ritualistic  churches,  like  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  and  churches  with 
a  predominatingly  emotional  appeal,  like  the  Church  of  God,  Holiness 
and  Nazarene — though  perhaps  it  all  comes  to  the  one  reason.  The 
following  table  gives  the  figures  in  detail  for  denominations  and 
localities : 


All    churches    

M.  E 

M.    E.    S 

Baptist    

Protestant  Episcopal 
Disciples    of    Christ.. 

Presbyterian    

Other  denominations 

Towns  

Villages    

Country    


Total  No. 
Male. 


2,999 
726 
306 
579 
75 
274 
394 
634 

2.377 
301 
321 


Total  No. 
Female. 


4,426 
1,067 
491 
825 
125 
437 
592 
900 
3,512 
467 
447 


Under  21. 


1,771 
454 
191 
344 
26 
155 
217 
384 

1,345 
213 
213 


Per  Cent.     Per  Cent. 
Male.        Under  21. 


40.4 
40.5 
38.3 
41.3 
37.5 
38.5 
40.0 
41.3 
40.2 
39.2 
41.8 


23.8 
25.3 
24.0 
24.5 
13.0 
21.8 
22.0 
25.0 
22.8 
27.7 
27.7 


The  total  number  of  accessions  to  the  membership  last  year  was 
1,825.  The  year's  losses,  chiefly  by  letter,  were  468,  leaving  a  net  gain 
of  1,357,  or  an  average  of  nearly  16  per  organization.  The  Baptist 
denomination  made  the  largest  net  gain  of  the  year  with  368 ;  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  second  with  209.  The  accessions, 
losses  and  net  gain  by  localities  are  shown  below: 


Visalia  . . . 
Dinuba  ... 
Tulare  . . . 
Exeter  . . . 
Porterville 
Lindsay  . . 
Villages  .. 
Country    . . 


Total  Number 

Net  Gain 

Accessions. 

Total  Losses. 

for  Year. 

201 

86 

115 

335 

56 

279 

172 

75 

97 

208 

33 

175 

113 

74 

39 

403 

82 

321 

235 

35 

200 

158 

27 

131 

Of  the  total  number  of  accessions,  a  rather  large  proportion,  778,  or 
42.6%,  were  by  letter,  1,047  being  received  on  profession  of  faith. 
Men  formed  a  larger  proportion  of  the  year's  gain  than  of  the  total 
membership.  821,  or  45%,  of  the  total  number  received,  were  men; 
1,004  were  women.    The  different  localities  show  some  rather  interest- 

87 


ing  variations  in  these  pro- 
portions. The  number  of 
accessions  by  letter  was 
considerably  in  excess  of 
the  number  on  profession 
in  Visalia,  Porterville,  and 
the  country  churches.  The 
Lindsay  churches  received 
by  far  the  largest  propor- 
tion on  profession — 77.8%. 
In  Lindsay,  also,  the  men 
received  during  the  year 
outnumbered  the  women. 

"To  him  that  hath  shall 
be  given."  It  is  the  already 
large  churches  that  make 
the  substantial  gains.  Num- 
bers attract  numbers.  Very  few  of  the  small  congregations  made  any 
appreciable  gains  during  the  year.  More  than  a  third  of  the  total 
number  of  churches  lost  ground  or  merely  marked  time  last  year,  26 
churches  received  the  bulk  of  the  accessions.  The  detailed  figures  follow  : 


PRESBYTERIAN    niURril,    LINDSAY 


Qiurches. 

With  a  net  loss    

With  a  net  gain  of  5  or  less. 

With  a  net  gain    6-10  

With  a  net  gain  11-20  

With  a  net  gain  21-50  

With  a  net  gain  51  and  over. 
With  neither  gain  nor  loss... 


Town. 

Village. 

Country. 

8 

3 

1 

5 

5 

8 

3 

4 

3 

8 

4 

14 

5 

2 

5 

6 

2 

Chapter  3 — The  Church  Budget. 

To  determine  exactly  how  much  money  it  takes  to  run  a  church  for 
a  year  is  often  a  very  difficult  task,  for  the  simple  reason  that  nobody 
knows.  This  is  particularly  true  of  churches  which  are  loosely  and 
imperfectly  organized,  but  is  not  confined  to  them.  Some  churches 
have  very  excellent  business  methods ;  some  have  very  poor  business 
methods,  while  still  others  have  no  business  methods  at  all.  There  is 
undoubtedly  a  great  deal  of  waste  effort  in  the  financing  of  religious 
movements  owing  to  the  haphazard  and  imsystematic  methods  so  often 
employed. 

The  financial  needs  of  a  church  may  roughly  be  classified  under 
three  heads — (a)  the  expense  of  up-keep  and  maintenance,  including 
the  pastor's  salary,  insurance,  interest  on  indebtedness,  etc.,  a  relatively 


COMPOSITION 
OF  THE  CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP 

Enlisting  THE  Men 


I    MEN^O"/r]      W0MEN6O 


'L 


I 


Recruiting  for  the  Futum 


MmoR24%|        Adult  76 


/o 


fixed  amount;  (/?)  the  general  benevolences  of  the  church,  including 
contributions  to  the  various  denominational  boards  and  support  of  va- 
rious denominational  officers;  in  part  a  fixed  amount,  but  in  part  de- 
pending on  circumstances ;  (c)  special  expenses  incurred  on  account 
of  building,  repairs,  purchase  of  necessary  furniture,  payment  of  any 
special  assessments  for  paving  or  similar  purposes,  etc.,  an  amount 
varying  very  greatly  from  year  to  year.  Certain  churches,  notably 
those  of  the  Seventh  Day  Adventist  denomination,  raise  their  entire 
budget  by  a  tithing  system.  These  churches,  in  proportion  to  their 
general  strength  as  compared  with  other  churches,  raise  unusually 
large  amounts,  have  generally  a  low  maintenance  expense,  and  are 
correspondingly  larger  givers  for  missionary  and  general  denomina- 
tional purposes.  This  system  is  apparently  not  adapted  to  the  average 
Protestant  congregation.  A  very  few  churches  attempt  carefully  to 
estimate  their  total  liabilities  for  each  year,  including  fixed  and  in- 
cidental charges  and  benevolences,  and  cover  this  entire  budget  minus 
any  ascertainable  income  from  collections  or  endowments,  by  annual 
pledges,  payable  either  weekly,  by  a  "duplex"  envelope  system,  or 
upon  receipt  of  a  monthly  or  quarterly  statement.  (The  "duplex" 
envelope  system  is  a  system  of  double  envelopes,  one-half  for  general 
and  the  other  for  benevolent  contributions — the  advantage  over  the 
common  "single"  envelope  being  that  it  systematizes  the  giving  to 
benevolences  and  distributes  it  over  the  entire  year,  substituting  this 

89 


for  dependence  upon  special  collections.  The  system  is  greatly  to  be 
recommended.)  A  much  larger  number  of  churches  secure  pledges 
covering  simply  the  pastor's  salary  and  the  stated  denominational  as- 
sessments, frequently  using  a  weekly  envelope  system,  and  rely  upon 
collections,  receipts  from  socials  and  similar  sources  for  the  balance 
of  the  budget.  Any  deficit  which  may  occur,  and  all  special  or  vm- 
usual  expenses,  are  covered  either  by  a  special  solicitation  or  a  special 
offering.  The  disadvantage  of  this  method  is  that  there  usually  is  a 
deficit,  and  the  giving  for  missionary  purposes  is  uncertain,  unsys- 
tematic, and  unsatisfactory.  (Of  course,  many  churches  would  be 
glad  to  secure  pledges  for  their  entire  expense,  if  they  could.  That 
they  cannot  is  usually  due  either  to  the  absence  of  a  carefully  pre- 
pared, business-like  budget,  or  to  an  inefficient  canvass,  or  both.  Where 
a  duplex  envelope  system,  or  similar  device,  has  been  employed  with- 
out results,  the  reason  is  usually  to  be  found  in  the  methods  employed 
in  establishing  its  use.)  The  remaining  number  of  churches  get  what 
pledges  and  collections  they  can  and  hustle  for  the  rest. 

The  total  amount  raised  on  the  field  last  year  by  all  Protestant 
churches  was  $115,055.  In  addition,  21  churches  received  Home  Mis- 
sion aid  to  the  extent  of  $5,284.  The  appended  table  indicates  the 
total  amounts  raised  locally  by  the  various  denominations,  and  in  the 
various  localities  also  the  amounts  raised  per  capita  of  the  member- 
ship. This  last  is  included,  with  recognition  of  the  fact  that  by  no 
means  all  of  the  money  raised  is  contributed  by  the  members,  simply 
as  an  indication  of  the  money-raising  power  of  the  various  churches: 

Total  Amt.       Amt.  Raised      Amt.  Raised 
Raised 

M.   E $27,788 

M.  E.  S 8,791 

Baptist    22,402 

Protestant  Episcopal    3,020 

Disciples   of    Christ 9,482 

Presbyterian    19,090 

Other  denominations   24,482 

Visalia    \7J36 

Dinuba    15,159 

Tulare  13,394 

Exeter    9,743 

Porterville    13,764 

Lindsay    18,412 

Villages    14,722 

Country    12,125 


per  Member 

Membership 

$15.49 

$32.65 

11.03 

29.90 

14.53 

33.48 

15.10 

21.12 

13.33 

24.90 

19.55 

35.33 

15.96 

36.27 

16.23 

10.77 

16.93 

17.36 

16.00 

13.53 

19.17 

15.79 

Grand  total  $115,055  $15.49  $32.05 

That  there  is  economy  in  numbers  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  best 
church  towns,  generally  speaking,  i.  c,  Dinuba  and  Lindsay,  raise  the 

90 


smallest  per  capita  amounts,  while  the  weakest  group  of  churches, 
those  in  the  villages,  raise  the  largest  per  capita  amount. 

The  total  amount  raised,  $115,055,  was  expended  as  follows:  For 
salaries  of  ministers,  $50,022,  or  43.4%,  of  the  total  (to  get  the  whole 
amount  received  by  ministers,  the  amount  received  from  llome  Mis- 
sion Boards  must  be  added  to  this;  a  detailed  discussion  of  salaries 
will  be  included  in  the  chapter  on  ministers)  ;  for  all  maintenance  and 
contingent  expenses,  $47,203,  or  41.0%  (this  includes  all  amounts 
raised  for  building  purposes,  interest  on  indebtedness,  etc.)  ;  for  all 
benevolences,  including  supervision  and  the  support  of  denominational 
agencies,  $17,830,  or  15.6%.  The  unusually  large  amount  required 
for  contingent  expenses  is,  of  course,  due  to  the  fact  that  we  have 
here  many  new  churches,  with  rather  heavy  indebtedness  from  recent 
building  operations.  This  fact  also  doubtless  explains  the  small  propor- 
tion of  the  budget  devoted  to  benevolences.  The  following  tables  give 
(1)  an  analysis  of  the  expenditures  by  denominations;  (2)  the  amount 
expended  for  various  purposes  per  capita  of  the  membership  and  the 
proportion  of  the  total  budget  devoted  to  benevolences,  by  denomina- 
tions; and  (3)  the  total  and  the  per  capita  amounts  raised  for  bene- 
volences in  the  different  localities,  with  the  proportion  of  those 
amounts  in  the  total  budget. 

Home         Foreign         Other     Contingent 
Salaries       Supervision      Missions     Missions  Benevolences 

M.  E $12,153  $1,162  $1,184  $1,121  $1,663  $10,505 

M.  E.  S 4,700  525  249  262  439  2.616 

Baptist 8,780  675  957  692  506  10,792 

Prot.  Epis 1.650  172  83  56  43  1,016 

Presbyterian 8.378  197  464  531  526  8.994 

Others 14,361  367  3,376  1,807  IIZ  13,280 

Total $50,022        $3,098        $6,313        $4,469        $3,950        $47,203 

Amount   raised    for  Proportion  of  total 
Amount   raised   for    benevolences    (incl.  budget  used  for 

salaries  per  capita  supervision)  benevolence   (incl. 

of   membership  per   capita  supervision) 

M.  E $6.77  $2.86  18.4% 

M.  E.  S 5.90  1.85  16.7% 

Baptist 6.25  2.01  12.7% 

Prot.  Epis 8.25  1.77  11.7% 

Disc,  of  Ch 6.47  0.88  6.6% 

Presbyterian 8.70  1.74  9.0% 

Others 6.36  3.68  23.1% 

Amount  raised  for  benevolences  (including  supervision)     ^  ^-         c 

^      ,  Per  capita  of      Proportion  of 

Total  membership         total  budget 

Visalia  $2,328  $2.22  13.7% 

Dinuba*. :::::::::::::::::  3,771  2.72      25.2% 

Tulare  2,225  2.81  16.6% 

Exeter 800  1.42  8.1% 

Porterville'." '. '. ". '. '. '. '. ". '. '. '. '. '. '.  2,177  2.53  15.8% 

Lindsay 2,318  1.88  13.9% 

Villages  1-77-3  3.02  12.1% 

Country  !  l'.  1  ■.■.■.■.■.■.  '.l  1 !.. .  2.318  2.32  19.1% 

91 


The  above  tables  show  some  very  interesting  contrasts  between  de- 
nominations and  also  between  localities.  We  will  leave  it  for  others, 
however,  to  discover  their  significance,  except  in  these  few  particulars. 
The  country  churches  as  a  whole  give  largely  to  missions  because  of 
the  number  of  churches  in  the  country  with  an  unsalaried  ministry 
which  devote  a  large  part  of  their  l)U<lget  to  missionary  purposes.  For 
the  rest,  it  is  obvious  that  the  missionary  enthusiasm,  and  the  mis- 
sionary giving  of  any  congregation,  are  dependent  upon  a  good  many 
factors,  the  extent  of  its  financial  obligations  and  resources,  its  methods 
of  finance,  its  methods  of  missionary  education,  the  personal  interest 
of  the  pastor,  and  so  on.  As  far  as  the  amounts  expended  for  salaries 
are  concerned,  it  is  well-known  that  certain  denominations  have  much 
higher  standards  for  their  ministry  than  others,  both  as  regards  aca- 
demic training  and  compensation,  and  in  consequence  pay  higher  aver- 
age salaries.  One  other  point  should  be  mentioned.  The  amount  re- 
ceived by  various  churches  from  Home  Mission  Boards  is  but  slightly 
less  than  the  total  amount  contributed  by  the  county  for  Home  Mis- 
sions, and  if  one  Seventh  Day  Adventist  Church  is  eliminated,  con- 
siderably exceeds  it. 

Chapter  4 — Organizations  in  the  Churches. 

The  most  important  of  the  various  subsidiary  religious  organiza- 
tions is  the  Sunday  School.  There  are  in  all  117  Sunday  Schools  in 
the  county  at  the  present  time.  93  of  these  are  maintained  in  con- 
nection with  the  Protestant  Church  organizations,  preaching  points 
and  missions  which  we  have  been  considering.  12  are  maintained  at 
various  country  points  where  there  is  no  other  regular  religious  service. 
One  is  maintained  by  the  Salvation  Army.  The  other  11  are  attached 
to  those  organizations  which  are  not  under  consideration,  and  are 
therefore  omitted  from  our  present  discussion.  The  data  here  given 
are  for  106  schools. 

These  106  schools  have  a  total  enrollment  of  9,365,  an  average  of 
88  to  the  school.  The  total  average  attendance  is  6,141,  65.5%,  of  the 
enrollment,  an  average  of  58  per  school.  The  low  percentage  in  regu- 
lar attendance  is  due  in  part  to  the  careless  way  in  which  the  enroll- 
ment is  often  computed.  Sunday  School  rolls  are  revised  even  less 
frequently  and  carefully  than  church  rolls.  The  total  average  attend- 
ance is  a  clearer  index  of  the  extent  of  the  Sunday  School's  influence 
than  the  enrollment.  48  schools  are  in  towns,  16  in  villages,  and  42  in 
the  country.  The  town  schools  have  the  largest  average  enrollment 
and  attendance,  and  the  country  schools  the  smallest.  There  are,  how- 
ever, many  small  schools  in  the  towns  and  villages  as  well  as  in  the 

92 


country.     Nearly  half  the  schools  have  an  enrollment  of  less  than  50 
each,  while  less  than  one-third  exceed  100,  as  indicated  below : 


Schools  with  an  enrollment  of — 

Town. 

Village. 

Country. 

Total. 

10  or  less 

1 

3 

4 

11   to     20 

4 

i 

10 

15 

21   to     50 

9 

2 

17 

28 

51   to     75 

5 

3 

5 

13 

76  to   100 

5 

6 

3 

14 

101   to   150 

8 

.2 

4 

14 

151   to   200 

7 

2 

9 

201    or   more 

9 

9 

Among  the  denominations,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  leads  in 

the  number  enrolled  in  Sunday  School,  with  the  Baptists,  Presby- 
terians, and  Methodist  Ei)iscopal  Church  South  following  in  that 
order. 


M.  E 

M.  E.  S 

Baptist    

Protestant   Episcopal    

Disciples  of  Christ 

Presbyterian     

Others   (including  Union  Schools).. 

Total    


Total  Average 
Attendance. 


1,715 

575 

1,018 

61 

352 

864 

1,556 

6,141 


The  figures  on  total  enrollment  show  Lindsay  leading,  with  Dinuba 
and  Porterville,  second  and  third,  respectively.  In  average  attendance, 
Lindsay  leads,  with  Dinuba,  Visalia  and  Tulare  following  in  that  order. 
Visalia  show's  the  smallest  average  enrollment  and  attendance  per 
school  of  any  town — and  Lindsay,  by  a  good  margin,  the  largest.  The 
towns  which  make  the  best  showing  as  to  Sunday  Schools  are  also  the 
towns,  as  it  happens,  with  the  strongest  churches,  the  largest  net  gains 
in  church  membership  for  the  year,  and  the  largest  proportion  of  young 
people  in  the  memljership — -which  things  are  usually  found  together. 

No.  Schools  Total  Unroll.  .Iv.  per  School  Total  Att.  Av.  per  school 


Visalia    12  1,001 

Dinuba    9  1,196 

Tulare    8  1,096 

Exeter    5      ■  561 

Porterville    7  1,112 

Lindsay    7  1,248 

Villages    16  1,356 

Country    42  1,795 


83 

679 

133 

762 

137 

711 

112 

374 

159 

585 

178 

784 

85 

882 

43 

1.364 

56 
85 
89 
75 
83 
112 
55 
2,2 


The  largest  Sunday  Schools  in  point  of  average  attendance  in  the 
towns  arc  the  Lindsay  Baptist,  with  270;  Tulare  Methodist  Episcopal, 
wnth  252;  Porterville  Methodist  Episcopal,  with  240,  and  the  Porter- 

93 


ville  Baptist,  with  225 ;  in  the  villages,  the  Sultana  Methodist  Epis- 
copal, with  125,  and  the  Orosi  Methodist  Episcopal  South,  with  120; 
in  the  country,  the  Brethren,  near  Strathmore,  with  130,  and  the  Men- 
nonite,  near  Dinuba,  with  125. 

Sunday  Schools  exist  primarily  for  the  training  of  children,  but  not 
wholly  so.  Nearly  all  the  schools  have  a  very  good  proportion  of 
adults  enrolled.  This  is  particularly  true  of  many  country  and  small 
village  schools,  in  some  of  which  the  adults  outnumber  the  children. 
Certainly  the  Sunday  School  may  be  made,  and  often  is  made,  of  very 
real  value  for  the  training  of  all  ages  in  a  life  of  Christian  usefulness. 
The  total  enrollment  in  all  schools  of  pupils  over  20  years  of  age  is 
2,933,  or  31.3%  of  the  whole  number.  Pupils  from  15  to  20  years  of 
aee  are  in  greneral  the  hardest  to  hold  in  the  school. 


Enroll,   of  Pu- 
pils over  20 
Years  of  Age 

Total  Enroll. 
Proportion   of 

Visalia   

Dinuba    . .         

369 
276 
366 
172 
237 
419 
482 
612 

36.8% 
23.1% 

Tulare    

33.4% 

Exeter 

Porterville    

30.6% 
21.3% 

Lindsay    

Villages   

33.5% 
35.5% 

Country   

34.1% 

Total    

2,933 

31.3% 

The  schools  are  divided  into  a  total  of  685  classes,  regularly  taught 
by  220  men  and  465  women  teachers,  and  having  an  average  regular 
attendance  per  class  of  about  nine.  Not  more  than  a  dozen  schools 
have  any  regular  system  of  enlisting  and  training  their  teachers,  and 
few  of  these  have  anything  more  than  a  general  conference  on  the 
subject  matter  of  each  lesson,  a  thing  valuable  enough  in  itself,  but 
not  sufficient.  Indeed  it  is  the  great  weakness  of  the  Sunday  Schools 
that  they  have  not  yet  come  to  be  regarded  as  primarily  educational 
institutions.  This  may  be  seen  in  the  adaptability  (or  lack  of  it)  of 
the  average  church  building  for  school  purposes,  both  as  to  floor  plan 
and  equipment ;  in  the  methods  of  grading  and  organization  of  classes 
and  departments ;  in  the  selection  of  the  curriculum,  and  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  religious  exercises  held  in  connection  with  the  sessions. 
These  points  may  be  taken  up  in  turn. 

Of  the  church  buildings  used  for  Sunday  School  purposes,  very 
few  are  really  well  adapted  to  that  use.  Of  79  schools  meeting  in 
church  buildings,  only  14  are  able  to  provide  every,  or  practically 
every,  class  with  a  separate  room;  even  counting  those  schools  which 
make  use  of  rooms  in  nearby  residences ;  24  have  a  room  for  approxi- 

94 


BAPTIST  CHURCH,   LINDSAY 


mately  every  two  classes;  12,  one  for  every  three  classes;  11,  one  for 
every  four  classes;  7,  one  for  every  five  classes,  and  11  have  six  or 
more  classes  in  a  single  room.  The  present  tendency  in  building  is, 
however,  to  provide  better  accommodations.  Approximately  half  of 
the  churches  provide  black-boards,  and  somewhat  less  than  that  num- 
ber charts.  Perhaps  ten  provide  other  equipment  in  the  shape  of  maps, 
reference  libraries,  etc. 

To  grade  and  organize  a  small  school  at  all  thoroughly  is  difficult, 
if  not  impossible.  In  this  the  day  schools  have  a  great  advantage  over 
the  Sunday  Schools,  in  that  the  latter  are  divided  into  so  many  small 
groups  on  denominational  lines.  Size  is  not,  however,  the  only  con- 
sideration, since  many  schools  whose  numbers  are  sufficient  to  admit 
of  careful  grading  are  very  deficient  in  this  respect.  Careful  grading 
is  the  first  step  toward  efficient  work.  The  organization  of  classes  and 
departments  serves  in  part  the  same  purpose.  It  also  gives  the  school 
a  better  basis  for  its  general  extra-academic  activities,  and  is  one  of 
the  best  means  for  sustaining  interest  and  maintaining  attendance.  A 
completely  organized  school  is  almost  always  a  school  that  does  ex- 
cellent work,  holds  its  pupils,  develops  a  fine  spirit,  and  generally 
accomplishes  good  results.  Only  7  schools  in  the  county  (4  town, 
1  village,  2  country)  are  organized  throughout.  23  others  have  each 
one  organized  class  or  more.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday  Schools 
at  Lindsay  and  Tulare,  and  the  Baptist  school  at  Lindsay,  are  the  best 
organized  and  equipped  schools  in  the  county.  The  latter  school  has 
one  widely-known  organized  class  of  young  people,  with  over  100 
enrolled. 

95 


In  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  schools  uniform  lessons  are  used 
throughout.  Whatever  dift'erence  of  opinion  there  may  be  as  to  the 
value  of  the  various  lesson  systems  now  published,  there  can  be  but 
little  doubt  that  graded  lessons  are  correct  in  principle.  No  system  of 
graded  lesson  helps  applying  to  a  single  passage  of  Scripture  can  well 
make  that  passage  uniformly  adapted  to  the  use  of  all  ages.  Graded 
lessons  simply  recognize  the  fact  that  different  ages  differ  in  their 
capacities  and  should  have  subject  matter  adapted  to  their  respective 
stages  of  development  and  prevailing  interests.  Only  10  schools  use 
a  complete  graded  system  of  lessons.  22  others  use  graded  lessons  for 
certain  classes  or  departments,  usually  for  the  primary  and  the  young 
people's  classes. 

To  make  whatever  religious  exercises  are  held  in  connection  with 
the  Sunday  School  sessions  serve  any  useful  educational  purpose,  is 
a  problem  that  relatively  few  of  the  schools  succeed  in  solving.  A 
song,  a  prayer,  and  the  reading  of  the  lesson  still  serves  for  "the  open- 
ing exercises"  in  most  schools.  This  last  is  rather  a  useless  exercise 
in  schools  provided  with  printed  helps  containing  the  text  of  the  les- 
sons, unless  it  is  assumed  that  the  pupils  will  not  look  at  their  lessons 
before  coming  to  the  session. 

Twenty-five  schools — 14  in  town,  3  in  villages,  and  8  in  the  country— 
annually  observe  Decision  Day.  The  value  of  such  observance  depends 
on  the  method.  Usually  the  results  are  good,  as  is  seen  from  the  number 
of  young  people  who  enter  the  church  membership  from  these  Sunday 
Schools.  50  schools  regularly  give  from  their  collections,  or  from  the 
"birthday  offering,"  to  some  missionary  cause ;  in  one  school  each 
class  annually  pledges  a  certain  amount  to  the  general  budget  of  the 
church ;  several  schools  assist  weaker  country  schools  in  the  purchase 
of  supplies ;  one  school  gives  the  entire  offering  the  second  Sunday  of 
each  month  to  Home  Missions ;  the  third  to  Foreign  Missions,  and  the 
first  and  fourth  to  the  current  expenses  of  the  church. 

As  regards  social  times  in  the  Sunday  School,  61  schools  have  an- 
nual picnics,  frequently  union  affairs  and  important  events  in  the 
church  calendar.  About  45  make  a  feature  of  regular  or  frequent 
social  gatherings  by  classes  or  as  a  school.  The  results  upon  the  gen- 
eral spirit  of  the  schools,  and  as  an  aid  to  sustaining  interest,  prove 
the  value  of  a  strongly  accented  social  policy. 

The  last  point  to  be  made  regarding  Sunday  Schools  concerns  the 
adequacy  of  those  now  existing  to  serve  the  population  of  the  entire 
County.  There  are  at  present  43  public  school  districts,  with  a  total 
grammar  school  enrollment  of  927,  which  have  no  Sunday  Schools 
within  a  reasonable  distance — say  five  miles  of  the  center  of  the  dis- 

96 


trict.  Few,  if  any,  of  these  are  localities  which  could  support  a  church ; 
practically  all  of  them  could  support  a  Sunday  School.  Here  is  an 
opportunity  for  some  of  the  stronger  schools  to  do  a  little  missionary 
work  by  training  leaders  to  organize  and  direct  Sunday  Schools  in 
these  various  districts,  most  of  which  could  be  reached  easily  from 
some  one  of  the  larger  centers  in  the  county.  For  the  County,  as  a 
whole,  certain  figures  are  suggestive.  The  non-Catholic  population 
of  the  County,  6-20  years  of  age,  is  approximately  13,200.  The  en- 
rollment of  the  Sunday  Schools,  20  years  of  age  and  under,  is  6,432, 
or  49%  of  the  population  of  school  age.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
proportion  enrolled  is  somewhat  less  than  49%,  since  that  6,432  in- 
cludes a  good  number  of  children  under  6  years  of  age.  Obviously 
the  Sunday  Schools  still  have  a  task  before  them. 

Eighteen  church  organizations  have  no  subsidiary  organizations  of 
any  sort  except  Sunday  Schools.  The  others  have  each  one  or  more 
societies  of  some  sort.  Men's  organizations  are  few,  there  only  being 
six  in  the  county,  with  a  total  enrollment  of  175,  and  several  of  these 
are  admittedly  invalids.  The  Brotherhood  movement  has  hardly  gotten 
a  start  as  yet.  Women's  organizations  are,  of  course,  more  numerous, 
and  are  chiefly  of  three  sorts — Home  Missionary  Societies,  Foreign 
Missionary  Societies  and  Aid  Societies.  The  town  churches  have  61 
such  organizations,  with  a  membership  of  1,787;  the  village  churches 
have  22,  with  a  membership  of  400;  the  country  churches  have  14, 
with  a  membership  of  290 — 97  societies  in  all.  55  of  these  are  Aid 
Societies ;  36  are  Missionary  Societies,  and  6  serve  both  purposes. 
The  town  churches  have  31  Young  People's  Societies,  with  a  member- 
ship of  1,148,  and  17  children's  organizations,  with  a  membership  of 
477.  The  village  churches  have  8  Young  People's  and  4  children's 
societies,  with  a  membership  of  261  and  42  respectively.  The  country 
churches  have  9  Young  People's  and  1  children's  societies,  with  356 
and  22  members.  The  number  of  churches  which  lack  organizations 
of  these  various  sorts  is  indicated  below : 


83 
Churches 


Men  (all  but  six) 

Women    

Young  People   . . . 

Children    

Anybody    


Town     Villac)e     Country       Total 


14 
20 
34 
11 


2 

6 

6 

7 

14 

14 

2 

5 

6 

22 
33 
62 
18 


The  most  interesting  society  attached  to  any  country  church  is  the 
big  neighborhood  sewing  circle  of  the  Brethren  Church,  near  Strath- 
more.  This  is  really  undenominational,  and  women  come  for  miles 
around  to  attend  its  sessions,  held  monthly,  and  partake  of  the  bounti- 

97 


TAKING  A  CHICKEN  PIE  TO  THE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH   SUPPER 

fill  dinner  provided.  This  society  supports  several  orphans  in  China. 
The  missionary  society  of  the  Buena  Vista  church  also  deserves  men- 
tion for  its  support  of  a  Bible  woman  in  China. 

In  general,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  churches  are  rather  weak  as  re- 
gards organizations.  The  great  debt  which  the  average  church  owes 
its  women's  society  should  be  an  indication  of  what  the  church  might 
expect  from  the  organization  of  the  men  and  the  young  people.  This 
is  said  fully  recognizing  that  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  such  organi- 
zations are  often  very  great. 

Chapter  5 — The  Church  Program. 

The  church's  first  and  foremost  business  is,  of  course,  to  proclaim 
the  gospel  and  instruct  men  in  the  ways  of  righteousness.  It  is  only 
right  that  the  direct  means  to  this  end  should  be  the  most  important 
part  of  the  church's  program.  One  means,  the  Sunday  School,  we 
have  already  considered.  The  next  means  of  importance  to  be  con- 
sidered is  the  regular  Sabbath  preaching  service.  Of  the  95  Protestant 
churches,  missions  and  preaching  points  which  we  have  been  discuss- 
ing, 54  have  two  regular  services  each  Sabbath ;  36  have  one  regular 
service,  while  5  have  a  service  every  two  weeks  or  less  frequently. 
Where  there  are  two  services,  as  a  usual  thing  the  morning  service  is 
the  more  largely  attended.  On  an  average  Sunday,  except  in  summer, 
146  different  preaching  services  are  held  in  the  Protestant  churches  of 
the  county.  The  total  average  attendance  at  these  services  was  given 
as  11,496.  Allowing  for  a  considerable  duplication  where  two  services 
are  held,  it  seems  probable  as  nearly  as  it  can  be  figured,  that  some- 

98 


thing  like  8,000  different  persons  attend  Protestant  churches  every 
Sunday — a  little  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  total  population.  The 
following  table  indicates  the  number  that  regularly  attend  the  services 
of  the  various  denominations  and  the  churches  in  the  various  localities: 

Aggregate  average  attendance  per  Sunday. 
By  Denominations.  By  Localities. 

M.  E 3,277      Visalia   957 

M.  E.  S 921      Dinuba   1,569 

Baptist   2,368      Tulare 1,299 

Protestant  Episcopal   156      Exeter    840 

Disciples  of  Christ  835      Porterville  1,472 

Presbyterian  1.392      Lindsay    2,157 

All  others  2,527      Villages    1,674 

Country   1,538 

It  is  the  practice  of  many  churches  to  hold  annually  "protracted"  or 
"revival"  meetings.  Sometimes,  though  not  usually,  these  are  union 
services.  Many  place  great  confidence  in  such  meetings  to  head  up 
the  work  of  the  year.  There  were,  last  year,  34  different  series  of 
revival  meetings  in  the  county — 20  held  in  the  towns,  8  in  the  villages, 
and  6  in  the  country.  These,  all  told,  endured  a  total  of  957  nights. 
The  average  duration  of  these  meetings  is  from  two  to  three  weeks, 
though  one  series  actually  held  through  195  consecutive  nights,  and 
another  through  156.  Five  series  of  union  meetings  were  held.  In 
seventeen  instances,  the  meetings  were  conducted  by  professional  evan- 
gelists. The  total  number  of  professed  conversions  for  the  year  was 
about  1,400,  most  of  them  from  three  series  of  meetings,  though  the 
number  of  accessions  to  the  churches  which  could  be  attributed  to  re- 
vival influences  was  much  less  than  that.  A  great  deal  depended  upon 
the  evangelist  and  upon  what  constituted  his  definition  of  a  convert. 
One  pastor  reported  that  after  meetings  in  his  church  a  team  of  evan- 
gelists had  claimed  hundreds  of  converts,  whereas  some  time  later  he 
had  not  yet  succeeded  in  finding  one. 

That  the  revival  service  has  a  legitimate  place  in  the  church  pro- 
gram, particularly  in  communities  where  a  relatively  small  proportion 
of  the  total  population  belongs  to  the  churches,  requires  little  com- 
ment. The  more  thoughtful  observers  are,  however,  putting  less  and 
less  reliance  on  the  efforts  of  the  average  professional  evangelist.  As 
a  cold  matter  of  fact,  the  churches  which  stress  the  educational  and 
community  activities,  and  in  which  the  pastor  is  his  own  evangelist,  as 
a  general  rule,  are  making  a  steadier  and  more  normal  growth,  and  are 
in  a  healthier  condition  than  those  which  live  on  the  expectation  of  an 
annual  prodding  up.  Men  who  closely  followed  the  spectacular  re- 
vival efforts  of  the  year  expressed  grave  doubts  as  to  their  permanent 
value  to  the  communities  concerned. 

99 


ORGANIZATIONS  imthe  CHURCHES 


ALL 

PROTESTANT 

CHURCHES 


Churches  with  organizations 
other  than  Sunday  Schools  for 

Women 


You  N6  People 


Children 


Men 


There  is  not  in  the  county  any  considerable  body  of  foreign-speak- 
ing people  without  some  sort  of  religious  service.  Meetings  are  regu- 
larly held  in  various  localities  using  the  Korean,  Japanese,  Portuguese, 
Armenian,  Turkish  and  German  languages.  There  are,  to  be  sure, 
many  foreigners  using  other  languages,  or  not  convenient  to  these 
various  meetings,  but  they  are  either  in  small  numbers  or  so  scattered 
that  no  regular  service  for  them  is  possible.  Instances  of  this  are  the 
Russians,  Hindoos  and  Italians.  There  is  a  large  contingent  of  Swe- 
dish people  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county,  but  they  attend 
the  services  in  Kingsburg,  just  over  the  county  line,  an  occasional 
service  being  held  in  the  Kings  River  school  house  in  Tulare  County. 

The  most  outstanding  weakness  of  the  churches  of  the  county  is 
their  narrow  emphasis  and  their  lack  of  touch  with  the  broader  com- 
munity problems.  One  reason  for  this  is  the  constant  shifting  of 
ministers  (which  will  be  discussed  in  the  next  chapter),  an  almost  fatal 
handicap  to  community  influence.  Another  reason  is  the  apparent  lack 
in  many  ministers  of  a  strong  community  interest,  their  failure  or  in- 
ability to  see  the  problems  of  the  individual,  church  or  denomination 
in  their  proper  relation  to  problems  of  the  community  as  a  whole,  a 
lack  of  perspective  in  their  work.  There  are  here  some  peculiarly 
urgent  community  problems.    The  large  transient  population,  the  great 

100 


annual  influx  of  seasonal  workers  with  hard  conditions  of  labor  and 
adverse  living  conditions,  the  prevalence  of  unemployment  and  want, 
the  need  for  higher  standards  of  community  morality  and  culture,  the 
necessity  of  finding  an  adequate  social  substitute  for  the  no  longer 
present  saloon  and  the  omni-present  public  poolroom,  the  whole  vexing 
recreation  question,  particularly  as  regards  men  and  boys — these  are 
only  a  few  factors  in  the  problem.  Co-operation  is  of  the  very  genius 
of  these  communities.  Progress  and  development  are  in  the  air.  But 
this  spirit  has  not  been  seized  upon  by  the  church  for  religious  ends. 
With  the  exception  of  a  very  few  churches,  the  efforts  in  this  direc- 
tion have  been  rather  puny — two  or  three  parish  houses,  a  rest  room 
or  two,  an  occasional  athletic  club,  a  few  street  meetings.  The  County 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  doing  a  great  deal,  but  it  is  young,  its  field  is  immense 
and  its  efifective  helpers  are  relatively  few.  And  the  truth  is,  that  such 
an  organization  lives  on  the  failure  of  the  churches  to  encompass  their 
full  task.  If  they  succeeded,  it  would  be  unnecessary.  And  just  the 
type  of  thing  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  doing,  the  churches  should  have  been 
doing  for  years  past,  and,  for  that  matter,  should  now  be  doing.  Which, 
in  the  end,  simply  means  that  many  of  the  churches  of  the  county 
need  a  different  type  of  minister,  differently  trained.  \\'ith  which  we 
come  to  the  next  chapter. 

Chapter  6 — The  Minister. 

The  95  Protestant  churches,  missions  and  preaching  points  under 
consideration  are  served  by  77  ministers.  Sixty-seven  of  these  give 
full  time  to  their  ministry ;  ten  divide  their  time  between  that  and  some 
other  occupation.  Eight  ministers  serve  wdthout  salary,  and  are  per- 
manent residents  of  the  respective  communities.  These  will  not  be 
further  considered  at  this  point.  The  remaining  69  may  be  grouped 
thus :  50  ministers  having  one  charge  each  serve  49  churches  (one 
church  having  two  ministers)  ;  17  with  two  charges  each  serve  31 
churches  in  this  county  (3  in  adjoining  counties)  ;  2  with  three  charges 
each  serve  4  churches  in  this  county  (two  in  adjoining  counties). 
Three  churches  are  probably  permanently  vacant,  though  the  organi- 
zations are  maintained. 

Seventy-two  of  the  77  ministers  live  in  this  county,  5  in  adjoining 
counties.  Two  residing  in  the  county  do  not  live  within  tlicir  parishes. 
Sixty-nine  churches — 42  in  towns,  14  in  villages,  and  13  in  the  country 
— have  resident  ministers;  23  churches — 6  in  towns,  3  in  villages,  and 
14  in  the  country — have  non-resident  ministers.  In  most  cases,  how- 
ever, the  ministers  live  near  enough  to  do  cllccti\c  service. 

The  changes  of  ministers  are  so  fre(|uenl  in  most  seclicjns  as  to  seem 

101 


almost  like  a  procession.  Eliminating  the  unsalaried  men  who  are 
property  owners  and  permanent  residents,  41  of  the  remaining  67 
have  been  in  the  county  for  less  than  one  year;  11  others  for  less  than 
two  years,  and  5  for  less  than  three  years.  Six  men  are  serving  their 
fourth  year,  two  their  fifth,  one  his  sixth,  and  one  his  eighth  year. 
The  Presbyterians,  as  a  denomination,  have  the  best  record  for  con- 
tinuity of  service,  all  but  two  men  having  served  for  more  than  one 
year.  But  this  whole  record  is  about  as  bad  as  it  could  be,  and  ex- 
plains a  good  deal  that  is  unsatisfactory  about  the  churches.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  a  sermon  and  a  revival  is  all  that  many  ministers  have 
had  to  ofifer  for  the  advancement  of  the  work.  The  one-year  man  is 
neither  organizer  nor  communitv  builder.  If  he  succeeds  in  gaining 
the  confidence  of  the  communitv  before  he  leaves,  it  is  as  much  as  he 
can  do. 

The  salaries  paid  the  ministers  are.  many  of  them,  inadequate,  but, 
on  the  whole,  are  as  high  as  the  average  for  similar  communities. 
Ministers'  salaries  are  proverbially  too  small,  though  this  fact  does  not 
explain  the  constant  shifting  of  men,  who  seem  to  go  or  stay,  irre- 
spective of  the  salaries  they  are  receiving.  An  average  for  a  large 
body  of  men  would  be  a  meaningless  figure.  The  following  table  is, 
therefore,  appended.  In  the  second  column,  ministers  who  receive 
their  house  rent  free  are  for  purposes  of  comparison  uniformly 
credited  with  $200.00  a  year  additional. 

Cash  Cash  and  house 

salary       rent  (if  provided) 

Nothing  8  8 

$250  or  less 5  3 

$251  to  $500 7  7 

$501  to  $600 4  1 

$601  to  $700 3  4 

$701  to  $800 4  4 

$801  to  $900 7  3 

$901  to  $1,000 12  7 

$1,001  to  $1.200 15  20 

$1,201  to  $1.400 3  8 

$1,401  or  more 4  7 

Amount  not  known 5  5 

Total 11  77 

A  little  more  than  half  of  the  ministers  receive,  at  least,  $1,000  in 
cash  and  house  rent,  which,  in  this  country,  should  be  the  minimum 
amount. 

Twenty-nine  of  the  ministers,  or  about  two  of  every  five,  have  had  a 
full  college  and  theological  seminary  course  ;  18  others  have  had  a  col- 
lege course,  or  its  equivalent.  The  remaining  number  have  had  only  a 
High  School  training,  or  less.    The  trained  men.  as  is  usually  the  case, 

102 


SCHOOL     BUILDING    AT    NAVELENXIA    USED 
FOR  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  SERVICES 


draw  the  largest  salaries. 
Counting  only  the  salaried 
men,  those  with  college  and 
seminary  training  receive, 
on  the  average,  $1,043.00; 
those  with  college,  only 
$931.00;  with  High  School, 
only  $541.00;  with  com- 
mon school,  only  $257.00. 
This  doesn't  mean  that 
training  is  the  only  cri- 
terion of  ability,  but  rather 
that  the  stronger  churches 
in  general  maintain  higher 
standards  in  this  respect. 
For  the  most  part,  the  min- 
isters of  the  county  ex- 
pressed a  cordial  interest 
in  the  purpose  of  this 
survey,  and  co-operated  most  cordially  with  the  investigator. 

Chapter  7 — General  Conclusions. 

A  general  survey  of  the  field  indicates  that  there  is  a  very  consid- 
erable territory  in  the  county  without  adequate  church  facilities,  but 
with  a  population  so  scattered  that  the  possibilities  of  establishing  any 
more  churches  seem  remote.  For  such  communities,  the  present  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  seems  to  be  through  the  Sunday  School,  particu- 
larly if  under  the  oversight  of  some  neighboring  minister  or  trained 
worker.  The  County  Y.  M.  C.  A.  should,  in  time,  also  be  of  great 
assistance.  For  the  mountain  communities,  it  is  hardly  possible  that 
the  future  will  bring  about  much  change  in  the  situation.  On  the 
valley  floor  it  is  different.  Here,  where  the  soil  is  good  and  water 
abundant,  it  is  highly  probable  that  })oinilous  communities  will  appear 
which  can  support  church  organizations,  just  as  the  Orange  Cove  Pres- 
byterian Church  was  established  in  a  community  that,  a  few  years  ago, 
was  non-existent.  I^^or  the  reason  that  such  development  may  con- 
fidently be  expected,  every  efifort  should  be  made  to  arrive  at  a  working 
basis  for  interdenominational  comity,  that  new  work  may  not  be  crip- 
pled by  over-lapping;  if  not  a  definite  compact,  at  least,  a  "gentle- 
men's agreement."  Sentiment  of  this  sort  is  growing.  There  are  in- 
terdenominational organizations  of  various  sorts  now— a  County  Min- 
isterial Union,  County  Sunday  School,  Christian  Endeavor,  and  Inter- 

103 


PERIODIC  MIGRATIONS 

OF 

67  PROTESTANT  MINISTERS 

41  11  15 

are  serving  this  yea.r  for 
the 


2  ND.  3  RD.TO  8th 

YEAR 

IN  THEIR  PRESENT  PARISHES 


mediate  Unions,  local  ministerial  unions  in  the  various  towns.  These 
should  all  consciously  lend  themselves  to  an  effort  to  handle  the  prob- 
lem of  church  extension  in  the  county  in  a  statesmanlike  manner.  For 
the  rest,  though  there  are  few  communities  in  the  county  which  could 
fairly  be  called  religious  communities,  the  future  is  full  of  promise  for 
the  churches  that  see  their  opportunity  to  become  genuine  community 

104 


TULA[^E  C 


yi^eiHi 


A    AlT.vc    Cfc-^tli   OrgOT-naT.on 

Mn-"             ■•             "     .r   .l.»i.-.J 

r  ^cK    house    uAcJ  ^r  Ch    Serv.ceft 

e  u-.on  5i.»j.,  a>h„i  ,„  s.),  Ho-. 

■    Ch   aMg  ujed,  b»r  no  organic  jtio 

D<nom...>t.o.i.: 

ME          M.th.Ep.^. 

nES   /Aoth  tp.ii  South 

BN        Bsptfsl    /Vorn..rr.    C.T<.<,>.r..n 

PE       ProT.it.nt  Ep,«of^l 

RC      Roman    C»thoP.c 

Pr        Pre5i;,T.i-i».,U.S  A 

a-       Chr,»T,.r>     (D.«.pl«l 

CX         Ck^rthof  Chr.sT 

CG        Charthor&oJ 

PCN     Pe„T„o^T.l  Ck  „l  N„ar,„, 

7  DA       711,    Do.  AJvent.sI 

GEL       "  E.lngel.t.l  L-thor.n 
LDS     L»tt,.     D.y  .So,r,U(Rforg) 
BX  B.-ell„^n     of    Chri.t 

UB         Un.t.J     Brethroo 
C-A      &r.gor,»n    Armenian 

RUB    R»d,t  =  l   U  B 

Br         Brtlhrtn 
M„        Mennon.t. 

EA     E.aT.gc-l,c,l   Aiiot.ar.on 
AMn.jTry; 


.  I  5,n.J 


churches.  Many  of  the  men  on  the  held  are  advancing  this  end  with 
ahle  service.  Men  hke  Dr.  (ireig,  pastor-evangehst  of  the  v'^an  joacjuin 
Presbytery,  have  been  in  the  past,  and  are  now  doing  splendid  work 
to  evangelize  and  develop  this  new  country.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  value  of  their  efforts  must  be  so  often  minimized  by  the  influence 
of  men  wdio  put  the  welfare  of  a  denomination  before  the  welfare  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  or  who  fail  to  see  the  broader  implications  of 
their  task. 


105 


1  Meth.  Epis. 

2  I 

3  ; 

4  I 

5  ; 

6  I 

7  1 


23 

24 

25 
26 


28 
29 

30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 

41 
4^ 
43 
44 

45 
46 
47 


Presbyterian. 


\'isalia 

Tulare 

Dinuba 

Lindsay 

Porterville. .  . 

Exeter 

Bonnie  Brae. 


Goshen 

Sultana 

Cutler 

Seville 

Farmersville . 
Wood  lake.  .  . 
Townsend .  .  . 

Ducor 

Richgrove .  .  . 

Oakdale 

Buena  Vista.. 
Waukena. .  .  . 

Alpaugh 

Poplar 

Spring ville. . . 

Globe 

Tulare 

Bliss 

Earlimart..  .  . 
Visalia 


Dinuba 

E.xeter 

Lindsay 

Orosi 

Orange  Cove. . 
V'enice  Hill.. .  . 
Woodlake .  .  .  . 
Lemon  Cove.  . 
Terra  Bella.  .  . 
Strathmore.  .  . 
Prairie  Center 
Yettem 


Baptist. 


Visalia . 
Tulare. 
Dinuba. 
Exeter. 


^L  E.  South. 


Lindsay 

Porterville. .  .  . 

Ducor 

Orosi 

Strathmore .  .  . 

Visalia 

Dinuba 

Exeter 

Orosi 

Woodville .  .  .  . 
E.  Mineral 

King. 


Organization Resident  Pastor 


Preaching  Point. .  .  ,  With  Exeter Membership 

with  Exeter 
Organization Xon-res.  Supply 

Resident  Pastor 

With  Sultana 
Preaching  Point..  .  1      "  "  No  Building. 

Organization '  Resident  Pastor 

Preaching  Point..  .  i  With  Woodlake. .  .    Use  School  H'se 

Organization I  Resident  Pastor 

Preaching  Point..  .    With  Ducor Use  School  H'se 

Organization ,  Non-res.  Supply.. .  " 

Resident  Pastor. .. ,  " 

With  Buena  Vista  i 

Resident  Pastor 


Portuguese  Miss. 

Preaching  Point. . 
Organization .  .  .  . 
Oriental  Mission . 
Organization.  .  .  . 


W'ith  Springville 

Native  Missionary 

With  Tulare  Miss..   Use  School  H'se 

With  Delano 

Resident  Pastor 

Worker 

Pastor.. .  I  Korean  Mission 
in  Connection. 


Non-res.  Supply. . . 

Resident  Pastor 
\\'ith  Woodlake 
Resident  Pastor. .  . 


Prepar'g  to  build 


Use  School  H'se 


Organization . 


With  Strathmore..    Use  School  H'se 
Resident  Pastor. .  .    Armenian  Con- 
gregation 
Resident  Pastor 


New  Building  un- 
der construction 


Organization Resident  Pastor 


E.  of  Visalia 


106 


.0  >. 

Denomination 

Location 

0  rt  3 

Designation 

How  Served 

Remarks 

S6 

Chris.  Science. 

Visalia 

T 

Organization 

S7 

" 

Dinuba 

T 

S8 

" 

Tulare 

T 

'* 

50 

" 

Lindsay 

T 

" 

60 

" 

Porterville. .  .  . 

T 

'* 

61 

Protestant 

Episcopal. 

Visalia 

T 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor 

6? 

" 

Tulare 

T 

With  Visalia 

6^ 

" 

Dinuba 

T 

" 

Witn  Reedley 

6^ 

" 

Porterville .... 

T 

" 

Resident  Pastor 

6S 

Lindsay 

T 

With  Porterville. . . 

Bldg.  under 
construction 

66 

Church  of  God 

Exeter 

T 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor 

67 

" 

Visalia 

T 

With  Exeter 

68 

Tulare 

T 

Un-organized 

Meeting. 

Resident  Pastor 

60 

" 

Dinuba 

T 

Organization 

"              '.' 

70 

Pentecostal 
Church  of 
Nazarene . 

Visalia 

T 

Organization 

Vacant 

Practically 
Abandoned 

71 

" 

Waukena 

C 

Non-res.  Supply 

72 

" 

Tulare 

T 

2  Resid't  Workers 

73 

" 

Lindsay 

T 

Resident  Pastor 

74 

Seventh  Day 
Adventist. 

Visalia 

T 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor 

75 

Dinuba 

T 

Local  Elder 

Have  Parochial 
School 

76 

Tulare 

T 

77 

Venice 

C 

Have  Parochial 
School 

78 

Rom.  Catholic 

X^isalia 

T 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor 

79 

Tulare 

T 

8n 

" 

Porterville .... 

T 

" 

8t 

" 

Lindsay 

T 

Mission 

With  Porterville 

82 

Disciples  of 

Christ. 

Visalia 

T 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor 

8^ 

" 

Lindsay 

T 

•' 

84 

" 

Dinuba 

T 

'• 

85 

Tulare 

T 

86 

German 

Evangelical 
Lutheran. 

X'isalia 

T 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor. .  . 

riave'^Parochial 
Sjhool 

87 

Dinuba 

T 

Preaching  Point..  . 

With  Visalia 

88 

N.  E.  of  Terra 
Bella . 

C 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor. .  . 

Have  Parochial 
School 

8q 

Congregation'l 

Tulare 

T 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor 

90 

Porterville. .  .  . 

T 

91 

Manzanillo .  .  . 

C 

Preaching  Point..  . 

Non-res.  Supply.. . 

N.  W.'of  Tulare 

92 

Church  of 

Christ. 

Porterville. .  .  . 

T 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor 

93 

Dinuba 

T 

Un-organized 
Meeting 

Vacant 

94 

Apostolic  Holi- 
ness Union 

Exeter 

T 

Organization 

Vacant 

95 

Porterville. .  .  . 

T 

Local  Preacher 

06 

Mennonite. .  .  . 

W.  of  Dinuba  . 

C 

" 

97 

Saucelito 

C 

Un-organized 

Meeting. 

" 

Use  School 
House 

98 

German  Con- 
gregational. 

Dinuba 

T 

Organization 

With  Sanger 

99 

Evangelical 
Association. 

Porterville. .  .  . 

T 

Resident  Pastor 

100 

Friends 

Lindsav 

T 

lOI 

Lutheran 
Gen'l  Synod 

Alpaugh 

C 

102 

Brethren 

W.  of  Strath- 
more  . 

C 

Local  Preacher 

103 

Brethren  of 

Christ. 

Aurora 

C 

Un-organized 

Meeting . 

L^sp  School  House 
N.  of  Waukena 

104 

Union 

Farmersville.  . 

V 

Organization 

Resident  Pastor 

los 

United  Breth'n 

Tipton 

V 

106 

Radical  U.  B.. 

Pixley 

V 

107 

Armenian 

Gregorian. 

Yettem 

c 

Un-organized 

Meeting. 

Vacant 

108 

Latter  Day 
Saints — Re- 
organized . 

Tulare 

T 

Organization 

Missionary 

109 

Buddhist 

Visalia 

T 

107 


PART  VI. 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The  first  conclusion  which  we  draw  from  this  survey  is  that  the 
work  in  CaHfornia  needs  larger  funds  and  more  generous  support 
from  the  church.  The  Board  of  Home  Missions  should  be  asked  for 
ampler  funds,  and  should  grant  more  for  the  work  in  the  Presbytery 
of  San  Joaquin.    The  money  is  needed  for  two  main  purposes: 

First. — To  extend  the  gospel  in  the  ever  new  communities  which  are 
formed  in  the  country.  The  work  laid  upon  the  shoulders  of  Dr. 
G.  B.  Greig  is  a  great  work  efficiently  borne.  It  will  continue  for  years 
to  come  to  be  the  chief  interest  of  not  only  the  Presbyterian,  but  of 
other  churches  in  this  region.  The  section  is  only  in  part  settled.  The 
possibilities  of  raising  fruit  are  only  in  part  realized.  The  chief  use 
of  this  survey  may  well  be  to  show  the  greatness  of  the  problem  in 
California,  which  few  people  outside  of  California  appreciate. 

Consider  the  public  school  organization  of  the  state  as  a  measure  of 
what  the  church  ought  to  do,  and  it  becomes  evident  at  once  that  we 
are  not  comprehending  the  greatness  of  the  California  need.  The 
Christian  leaders  in  California  should  organize  to  lay  their  needs  be- 
fore the  national  bodies,  and  to  present  them  to  men  of  wealth  in  Cali- 
fornia and  other  states,  in  order  that  adequate  provision  may  be  made 
for  establishing  the  Church  in  new  communities. 

Second. — There  should  be  at  certain  important  centers  great  and 
generous  provision  for  the  growth  of  the  churches.  This  is  especially 
true  in  the  agricultural  towns  and  in  the  oil  towns.  There  abundance 
of  money  is  made  by  men  who,  if  a  great  plan  were  presented  to  them, 
would  gladly  give  generously.  Most  of  these  are  California  residents. 
Our  recommendation  is  that  the  money  for  extension  of  the  Church 
in  new  communities  should  come  in  large  measure  from  national  home 
mission  funds,  but  that  large  plans  should  be  made  and  generous  funds 
asked  for  the  building  and  ec[uipping  of  complete  church  plants  at  im- 
portant centers. 

In  the  selection  of  these  centers  the  Home  Board  could  co-operate, 
but  the  management  of  this  forward  movement  should  be  in  California. 
The  time  has  come  now,  in  leading  towns,  when  the  Protestant  Church 
must  have  a  large  and  ample  equipment,  in  order  to  serve  the  whole 
community. 

108 


This  survey  is  not  published  primarily  as  an  advice  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  San  Joaquin  in  the  work  it  is  now  doing,  for  that  work  is 
effectively  and  well  done.  Dr.  Greig,  who  gave  patient  and  invaluable 
assistance  to  the  investigators  who  have  made  this  study,  deserves  the 
utmost  confidence  from  the  churches,  and  his  work  should  have  the 
continuing  support  of  both  the  Synod  and  the  Home  Board.  There 
are  few  men  in  the  service  of  the  churches  who  are  doing  in  the  coun- 
try work  so  lasting  and  so  far-sighted. 

The  survey  is  a  presentation  of  the  situation  in  California  to  the 
Church  at  large.  It  shows  the  extent  of  the  school  development,  and 
the  great  scale  on  wdiich  the  school  work  is  done  in  California,  the 
foresight  and  generosity  with  which  the  state  is  laying  educational 
foundations.  We  present  this  study  of  the  schools  as  a  measure  of  the 
foundations  which  the  churches  must  provide  for  the  population  in 
California. 

The  survey  shows  also  the  greatness  of  the  economic  problem  in 
California,  the  ample  wealth  which  the  state  is  producing,  and  will 
produce  more  abundantly  in  the  future.  This  part  of  the  survey  is 
for  the  purpose,  again,  of  measuring  the  religious  needs  of  California 
with  a  sufficiently  large  rule,  and  of  showing  the  justification  for  work 
in  this  state,  both  in  the  needs  of  the  people  and  in  their  ability  to  con- 
tinue what  is  now  begun. 

The  survey  also  shows,  in  the  main  outline,  how  well  the  initial  work 
has  been  done  toward  the  planting  of  churches  in  rural  communities 
in  California.  Considering  the  great  extent  of  this  task,  and  its  many 
difficulties,  the  financial  burdens  under  which,  in  a  new  state,  our  race 
and  our  people  have  had  to  go  forward,  we  believe  that  commendation 
and  thanksgiving  should  be  the  chief  and  first  report  upon  all  this  work. 
The  foundations  are  well  laid  for  a  great  religious  future  for  Cali- 
fornia. The  whole  work  is  animated  with  the  hope  and  optimism 
which  has  characterized  that  state  from  the  beginning.  The  purpose 
of  the  survey  is  to  show  how  far  this  work  has  been  done,  and  what 
remains  in  the  immediate  future  to  be  completed. 

To  San  Joaquin  Presbytery  and  to  Its  Constituent  Churches. 

First. — Patience  is  the  first  great  need  of  the  religious  worker  in 
California.  The  country  sections,  represented  l)y  Tulare  County,  are 
in  a  state  of  rapid  change.  Years  must  run  before  the  population 
settles.  For  a  long  time  there  will  be  much  moving  in  and  out  of  each 
rural  community.  This  means  that  many  churches  will  sufifer  losses, 
members  who  are  now  relied  on  will  move  away,  new  persons  will  be 
taking  their  places,  and  a  continued  i)eriod  of  changes  will  go  on  until 

109 


a  permanent  rural  population  comes  to  dwell  in  the  towns,  villages  and 
open  country. 

The  churches  should  strive  for  longer  pastorates.  This  does  not 
mean  the  life  pastorate;  but  ministers,  especially  in  the  country,  should 
be  established  for  a  greater  length  of  time.  Only  patience  and  con- 
tinuance will  win  for  the  denomination  or  congregation  in  the  coming 
years.  Spasmodic  efforts  or  brilliant  personalities  will  have  but  little 
eft'ect  upon  the  moving  equilibrium.  Their  brief  successes  will  pass 
out  of  account  in  the  coming  and  going  of  many  families  and  men; 
but  a  minister  who  gives  live  or  ten  years  to  a  town  will  accomplish 
something.  He  will  be  a  strong  force  in  fixing  the  population,  in  per- 
suading the  best  people  to  stav  in  the  community.  The  time  comes  in 
the  growth  of  towns  when  a  more  mature  and  abiding  sense  of  resi- 
dence shows  itself.  At  this  time  ministers  of  permanence  are  com- 
munity builders.  They  are  to  be  the  interpreters  of  country  life  to 
those  who  are  ready  for  the  message. 

Parsonages  should  be  built  by  those  churches  which  desire  to  hold 
their  congregations.  Less  than  one-half  of  the  ministers  are  so  fur- 
nished, and  a  residence  for  the  minister  is  a  big  factor  in  the  per- 
manence of  his  work. 

Second. — Evangelism  is  the  alphabet  of  Christian  service  in  a  popu- 
lation rapidly  increasing.  This  duty  is  the  greater  in  the  San  Joacjuin 
\'alley,  where  only  16%  of  the  non-Catholic  population  is  in  the 
churches.  To  win  men  to  Christ  and  the  Church  is  the  daily  breath 
of  duty.  California  has  not  had  success  in  the  use  of  professional 
evangelists,  and  we  do  not  recommend  their  work.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  ministers  on  the  ground  have  done  the  best  work,  for  35%  to  40% 
of  the  family  groups  in  this  county  are  connected  with  churches,  show- 
ing that  old  religious  habits  draw  many.  The  need  now  is  of  diligent 
personal  work  in  the  community  and  in  the  household.  Men  are  con- 
spicuously absent  from  the  churches.  To  win  them  to  the  church  is 
the  task  to  be  accomplished  by  diligent  personal  appeal,  by  patient  and 
persistent  community  service  lasting  beyond  three  years,  at  the  least ; 
and  by  an  attitude  of  the  church  toward  the  community  and  its  affairs 
which  will  command  the  respect  of  male  members  of  the  population. 
It  would  not  misstate  the  case  to  say  that  the  evangelism  needed  in 
Tulare  County  is  a  business  man's  and  bread-winners'  evangelism.  The 
gospel  must  be  presented  in  a  way  to  win  men  who  have  to  get  a  living, 
and  to  provide,  as  God  provides,  for  a  famil\'. 

Third. — The  open  fields  for  mission  work  in  the  towns  are  the  im- 
migrant populations — Portuguese,  East  Indian,  and  others,  who  re- 
cently arrived  from  foreign  shores.     A  large  field  of  new  work  where 

110 


congregations  may  be  established  is  in  the  open  country  in  the  de- 
velopment of  new  sections.  The  Sunday  School  opportunity  in  the 
county  is  the  most  promising  opening  for  evangelistic  work  in  the 
country.  The  Sunday  School  is  the  best  means  of  reaching  the  evan- 
gelized section  of  the  country,  and  this  survey  discloses  that  there  are 
43  school  districts  where  live  927  children  who  have  no  church  or 
Sunday  School  privilege,  being  five  miles  from  the  nearest  Sunday 
School.  This  opportunity  should  not  be  neglected  by  the  churches  of 
Tulare  County  and  by  the  Sunday  School  authorities. 

Fourth. — The  villages  in  Tulare  County  are  over-churched.  This 
excess  of  churches  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  rural  sections  of  southern 
California.  There  are  too  many  churches  in  the  village  and  too  few 
in  the  open  country.  There  are  no  opportunities  for  more  village 
churches,  as  a  rule,  but  there  are  openings  for  new  religious  work  in 
the  towns. 

The  plague  of  over-lapping  religious  work  has  something  to  do  with 
the  low  church  membership,  which,  in  the  village,  is  recorded  as  being 
less  than  7  per  cent.  The  situation  is  deplorable.  It  is  in  vain  to  urge 
evangelistic  effort,  for  there  is  something  wrong  with  the  membership 
of  a  church  when,  at  a  point  where  her  divisions  are  greatest,  her 
membership  is  the  smallest. 

Probably  the  over-lapping  of  churches  is  not  the  only  cause.  The 
villages  suffer  from  the  difficulties  of  work  in  the  open  country,  and 
from  the  swift,  moving  unrest  of  the  dwellers  of  the  farm,  as  well  as 
from  the  difficulties  which  the  towns  have.  Professor  Hart  says,  "The 
village  is  neither  hay  nor  grass."  It  is  neither  green  growth  of  the 
open  country  nor  the  seasoned  product  of  the  city.  The  problem  of 
rural  California,  therefore,  is  at  its  most  acute  stage  in  the  village. 

We  recommend  that  for  a  time  no  new  churches  be  established  in 
the  villages.  It  is  a  relief  to  know  that  one  kind  of  work  can,  for  a 
time,  be  let  alone.  It  will  do  the  village  good  when  it  has  too  many 
churches  to  let  it  alone.  Ministers  and  church  leaders  should  give 
preference  to  town  and  open  country  until  there  is  a  more  favorable 
state  of  religious  demand  in  the  village.  The  greatest  problem  at  pres- 
ent is  that  churches  are  needed  in  the  swiftly  developing  country  field. 
The  next  greatest  problem  is  the  intensifying  and  strengthening  of 
more  strategic  churches,  the  most  of  which  will,  perhaps,  l)c  in  the 
towns. 

Fifth. — It  is  plain  that  j)ublic  scntimenl  in  this  region  needs  a  new 
teaching  about  the  church.  The  doctrine  of  comity  and  co-operation 
should  be  preached  with  force.  The  one  religious  doctrine  that  people 
in  general  will  talk  about,  is  the  unity  of  Christian  people. 

Ill 


The  best  way  to  teach  comity  and  co-operation  is  to  present  the 
church  as  a  community-serving  organization.  This  means  that  the 
church  is  the  soul  of  the  community.  God's  spirit  is  teaching  this  to 
men  everywhere.  It  is  the  spiritual  message  of  the  quarter-century. 
Since  the  days  of  Charles  H.  Parkhurst,  the  Puritan  who  cleaned  New 
York,  all  ministers  have  dreamed  of  a  church  that  shall  be  civic — the 
heart  of  a  society. 

If  this  is  done,  and  if  people  are  convinced  that  the  church  should 
serve  all  in  the  community,  not  belong  to  a  denominational  few  alone, 
then  it  will  follow  in  the  minds  of  all  hearers  that  the  people  owe  the 
church  a  duty.  The  time  will  never  come  when  men  will  believe  alike. 
A  church  of  doctrines  is  a  church  of  dissent  and  of  competition;  but  a 
church  of  service  is  a  church  of  unity  and  co-operation.  The  best  way 
to  convince  the  average  man  that  churches  should  co-operate,  is  to  con- 
vince him  that  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  must  everywhere  serve  all 
the  people. 

Indeed  among  ignorant  people  denominations  are  formed  of  "come- 
outers,"  who  profess,  and  wath  sincerity,  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
separate  denomination,  in  order  to  unite  all  Christians.  What  we 
recommend  here  is,  that  the  churches  should  teach  and  preach  the  duty 
of  comity  and  co-operation,  in  order  to  forestall  the  formation  of  new 
churches  in  these  old  communities.     Already  there  are  too  many. 

Sixth. — The  deplorable  number  of  independent  churches  in  Cali- 
fornia expressing  revolt  and  seeking  an  experience  of  ecstasy  is  to 
be  ex])lained  by  the  fact  that  many  of  the  churches  of  the  older  tradi- 
tion do  not  serve  the  whole  community ;  they  do  not  try  to.  They 
ignore  the  poor.  Their  forms  of  service  do  not  appeal  to  the  ignorant 
or  the  needy.  It  is  of  people  of  small  mind  and  of  strong  emotions 
that  these  random  denominations  are  formed.  They  have  a  perfect 
right,  of  course,  to  worship  after  their  own  manner.  But  the  five 
great  denominations  which  lead  in  Tulare  County  have  no  right  to 
neglect  the  poor,  the  ignorant,  the  commonplace,  and  the  emotional. 
They  are  responsible,  and  should  satisfy  the  religious  cravings  of  all 
classes  of  the  population.  There  is  no  reason  why  Methodist,  Baptist, 
Presbyterian,  Congregational,  and  Disciple  Churches  should  not  be 
sufficient  to  the  task  in  Tulare  County — except  that  these  churches 
tend  to  interpret  religion  for  college  people  and  business  people  in 
terms  of  intellect,  literature,  criticism  and  reform.  These  things  are 
of  small  concern  to  working  people,  who  care  more  for  sympathy, 
neighborly  affection,  and  for  enthusiasm  in  religion.  At  great  costs 
to  themselves  they  form  denominations  when  necessary  to  satisfy  their 
religious  cravings. 

112 


ANOTHER    USE    l-i)R    THE    IRRKJATIOX    DITCH 

The  community  church  ought  to  satisfy  these  cravings.  If  it  would 
organize — not  necessarily  as  a  gymnasium,  or  as  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  with  its  elaborate  plant — but  as  a  cordial,  de- 
vout, praying  fellowship,  meeting  in  the  homes  of  the  people,  sym- 
pathizing with  the  young,  comforting  the  aged,  and  gathering  the  poor 
and  discouraged  into  its  fellowship,  it  would  include  all  the  people  of 
the  community.  W'e  admit  this  cannot  be  done  without  a  pastorate 
who  are  resolved  to  remain,  at  least,  live  years  in  a  place. 

Seventh. — The  greatest  lack  in  the  churches  surveyed  is  an  interest 
in  the  community.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  church  should  busy 
itself  rebuking  the  sins  of  the  community.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  first  business  of  the  church  is  with  the  sins  of  the  people. 
Churches  are  not  moralists'  societies;  but  just  God's  folks.  Life  is 
their  gospel,  not  morality.  It  is  pharisaical  to  assume  that  from  the 
start  the  church  is  in  a  jjosition  to  rel)uke  the  people.  The  great  busi- 
ness of  the  church  is  wath  life  first,  and  her  relation  to  sin  is  incidental. 
Her  message  is  one  of  eternal  life,  therefore  the  church  should  bring 
cheer  and  refreshment  to  those  who  arc  under  heavy  strain,  courage 
to  the  depressed,  and  a  message  of  daring,  of  fearlessness  and  of 
abounding  resources  to  the  children  of  God  in  all  their  work  and 
trouble.  The  settlement  of  a  new  stale  imposes  a  heavy  strain  njion 
the  j:)Opulation  who  make  the  first  advances.  They  have  to  pay  a  hea\y 
cost  in  laying  the  foundations  of  California.  Many  of  them  lay  down 
their  lives  and  fortunes  in  the  process.    The  church  must  have  a  ha])py, 

113 


affirmative,  dynamic  message  of  courage  and  faith.  It  must  learn  from 
the  "Christian  Scientists"  their  spirit,  which  some  one  had  condensed 
into  the  phrase,  "All's  well  with  me."  It  must  learn  from  the  "Church 
of  Ciod"  their  discipline  of  emotional  joy.  It  must  learn  from  the 
"Alillennialists"  their  belief  in  the  future,  even  though  they  despair 
of  the  present. 

The  church,  with  a  community  interest,  will  love  and  encourage  the 
young  people.  It  will  teach  them  how  to  play,  which  to  them  is  the 
business  of  life.  It  will  convince  them  the  Inisiness  of  religion  through 
the  minister  and  his  people  sharing  in  their  spirit,  through  the  promo- 
tion of  play  and  recreation,  through  the  provision  of  facilities  for  play, 
wliich  is  the  l)usiness  of  youth  and  of  childhood. 

The  church  which  has  community  interest,  which  demonstrates  its 
love  of  life  and  its  belief  that  God  lives  among  the  people  of  Cali- 
fornia, will  he  the  only  church  permitted  to  relnike  the  sins,  and  the 
only  one  expected  to  teach  the  virtues  of  the  life  in  California.  Hither- 
to the  iDroblem  of  divine,  Christ-like  sympathy  with  the  life  peculiar 
to  the  Pacihc  Coast  has  been  unsolved.  Ministers  come  from  the  other 
states  with  little  knowledge  of  the  people  of  the  Coast.  They  preach 
a  gospel  too  often  that  is  appropriate  to  Massachusetts  or  Michigan, 
and  they  relnike  the  sins  of  California  without  adec[uate  sympathy  for 
the  people  in  California.  Jesus,  our  Master,  said,  'T  come  that  they 
may  have  life,  and  have  it  more  abundantly." 

To  the  Rural  Congregations. 

The  critical  problem  in  Rural  California  is  the  training  of  the  con- 
verted men  and  women  for  citizenshij)  in  the  Kingdom  and  in  the 
Commonwealth.  The  church's  part  in  the  making  of  Christian  citizens 
is  spiritual,  to  teach  men  to  obey. 

The  problem  of  living  in  California,  of  tilling  the  soil,  of  getting  an 
income,  of  spending  it  eilectively,  of  teaching  the  children  of  the  peo- 
ple, of  building  social  institutions,  especially  the  church,  is  huge  and 
exhausting.  It  can  only  lie  accomplished  by  co-operation,  to  which 
the  California  farmer  aspires.  The  spiritual  side  of  co-operation  is 
obedience,  and  this  obedience  the  church  must  teach.  The  following 
are  suggestions  in  training  Christian  peoj)le  in  obedience : 

1.  The  first  is  a  program.  Each  church  should  have  plans  that  look 
five  years  ahead.  Minister  and  Presbytery  should  co-operate  in  look- 
ing to  the  future.  Random  reform  movements  and  unexpected  ex- 
plosions make  the  people  revolt  against  leadership.  The  missionary 
program  is  far  more  important  than  any  other,  and  is  nearer  at  hand. 
Every   con.gregation   in   California   should   have   a   part   in   giving   the 

114 


gospel  to  all  California.  We  believe  that  California  should  organize 
for  her  own  great  task.  We  recommend  a  program  for  the  rural  con- 
gregation, published,  and  continuously  held  before  the  people  until, 
step  by  step,  it  is  accomplished. 

2.  A  survey  of  the  community  made  in  an  orderly,  systematic  way 
by  a  pastor,  or  by  a  co-operative  act  of  pastors,  is  a  first  step  in  form- 
ing a  program.  This  survey,  when  made,  should  be  made  public  from 
the  pulpit  and  in  print.  Graphic  charts  should  be  made  to  exhibit  in 
the  church.  This  will  cultivate  in  the  people  a  conception  of  certain 
work  to  do,  and  will  hold  them  to  a  consistent  policy  of  evangelism 
and  Christian  service. 

3.  The  Protestant  policy  is  the  best  of  schools  in  which  to  form 
the  citizen.  A  Presbyterian  congregation  is  governed  by  elders,  honestly 
elected,  holding  office  for  a  short  time,  and  while  in  office  sharing  with 
the  minister  the  direction  of  the  congregation.  This  governing  group 
is  subject  to  the  Presbytery.  There  could  not  be  a  better  school  of  the 
civic  and  Christian  virtues.  These  men  learn  to  obey,  and  to  command 
which  is  another  part  of  the  same  virtue.  Each  elder  should  be  the 
head  of  one  section  of  church  work,  and  every  member  of  the  con- 
gregation should  have  a  duty  under  one  of  the  elders.  They  should 
be  subject  to  the  session  over  which  the  minister  presides.  Other 
Protestant  churches  have  similar  forms.  We  recommend  that  the  con- 
gregation be  made,  rather  than  a  new  society,  to  help  advance  the 
school  for  training  men  in  civic  obedience. 

4.  The  next  best  school  of  obedience  is  in  giving.  If  the  church 
has  a  purpose,  and  it  is  kept  before  the  mind  of  the  people,  they  will 
cheerfully  give.  They  will  invent  ways  to  give,  if  the  purpose  is  a 
big  one. 

5.  The  Sunday  School  is  the  place  to  teach  religion,  and  an  organi- 
zation in  which  men  learn  to  obey. 

6.  Prayer  organized  is  a  school  of  obedience  in  which  the  minister, 
craving  to  lead  his  people,  puts  his  hand  in  God's  hand  and  works  with 
a  holy  spirit,  in  the  deepest  and  most  holy  confidence  which  the  soul 
knows  and  the  church  declares.  We  are  not  commending  prayer  meet- 
ings alone.  There  should  be  large  gatherings  of  the  people,  in  which 
two  or  three,  or  more,  should  pray  together  for  the  various  enterprises 
of  the  church,  for  saving  of  individual  souls,  for  finding  of  elders  and 
teachers  that  will  do  business  of  the  Lord.  This  school  of  prayer 
is  the  best  training  in  obedience  we  can  commend. 

The  task  of  training  the  Christian  men  in  California,  whose  hearts 
God  has  touched,  is  a  great  one.  It  is  hard,  because  the  cost  of  living 
in  California  is  great.     The  tax  which  nature  and  mankind  lay  upon 

115 


the  individual,  and  upon  the  household,  is  a  heavy  tax.  The  church 
in  the  country  should  be  made  the  heart  of  the  struggle  on  California 
soil;  for  here  the  white  race  is  struggling  for  possession  of  the  strip 
of  land  on  the  last  continent  which  God  reserved  for  them  until  the 
end  of  time. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUIFORNI' 
-  'INIVERF 


tECD  U)Vt 

MOV  3  ^  iSfo 

OCT  3  0  1986 


ijQT  3  0198S 


lS«¥ERSiTY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  M^GELES 

LIBRAKY 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    001  161  651    3 


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